Febkuabt 4, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



161 



expedition to the Olympic Mountains in 

 Washington, also fruitful in zoological results. 



During his curatorship at the Field Mu- 

 seum he prepared and published under its aus- 

 pices several important handbooks on North 

 American mammals, an undertaking that 

 might well have taxed the courage and ener- 

 gies of a much younger man. These are: 

 " Synopsis of the Mammals of ISTorth America 

 and the Adjacent Seas " (1 volume, large 8vo, 

 1901) ; " The Land and Sea Mammals of Mid- 

 dle America and the West Indies " (2 vols., 

 large 8vo, 1904) ; " A Check List of the Mam- 

 mals of the North American Continent, the 

 West Indies and the Neighboring Seas " (1 

 vol., 8vo, 1905) ; " A Catalogue of the Collec- 

 tion of Mammals in the Field Columbian Mu- 

 seum " (large Svo, 1907). The first two of 

 these works form a handbook to all the mam- 

 mals of North America and adjacent islands, 

 with the cranial characters of each genus well 

 illustrated by excellent half-tone cuts of nat- 

 ural size, while the text gives brief descrip- 

 tions and full references to the original de- 

 scriptions. While open to criticism, as such 

 work must always be, they have proved of 

 great utility not only to amateurs but to ex- 

 perts. 



On leaving the Field Museum he set out 

 upon a work of so much difficulty and magni- 

 tude that it seemed an almost audacious 

 undertaking, which some of his friends feared 

 would prove beyond his strength. This is his 

 " A Review of the Primates," begun in 1906 

 and completed in 1912, and published in three 

 volumes by the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History, with 11 colored plates of ani- 

 mals and 32 half-tone plates of skulls, the 

 latter all natural size, and with a perfection 

 of detail not previously attained. Soon fully 

 realizing the seriousness of the undertaking 

 he sailed for Europe in April, 1907, to visit 

 all of the principal museums abroad in order 

 to study the actual types of the species and 

 such other material as bore upon the subject. 

 After visiting the museums and zoological 

 gardens of Europe he passed on to Egypt, 

 India, China and Japan, returning to New 

 Tork after an absence of eighteen months, 



with an immense store of notes and manu- 

 scripts for future elaboration. After the 

 work had greatly progressed he found it nec- 

 essary to revisit the museums of Europe to 

 settle many still doubtful points. He labored 

 at his great task incessantly for at least nine 

 months of each year, year after year, with in- 

 domitable industry and perseverance till at 

 last it was completed for the press. In a work 

 of this nature it would be rash to expect per- 

 fection; it is essentially sound in principle 

 and method, and if lacking somewhat in de- 

 tails, it will long be of invaluable service to all 

 who may follow in the same field. 



Besides the works already mentioned, Dr. 

 Elliot has many lesser volumes and a long list 

 of technical and occasional papers to his 

 credit. During the years 1895-1898, he pub- 

 lished three casual volumes, of a somewhat 

 popular character, on the game birds of North 

 America, for Elliot was an ardent sportsman 

 as well as a naturalist. These books, which 

 have met with much favor, are entitled: 

 " North American Shorebirds : a History of 

 the Snipes, Sandpipers, Plovers and their 

 Allies" (8vo, New Tork, 1895); "The Gal- 

 linaceous Game Birds of North America " 

 (Svo, New Tork, 1897) ; " The Wild Fowl of 

 the United States and British Possessions, or 

 the Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers of 

 North America" (8vo, New Tork, 1898). 



Dr. Elliot was one of the founders of the 

 American Ornithologists' IJnion (1883), its 

 president for two years (1890-1891), and an 

 active member of its council for twenty-eight 

 years (1887-1915). He was also a member of 

 the British Ornithologists' Union, the Zoolog- 

 ical Society of London, a fellow of the Eoyal 

 Society of Edinburgh, and an honorary or 

 corresponding member of many scientific so- 

 cieties in Europe as well as in America. 



In the early years of the founding and or- 

 ganization of the American Museum of Nat- 

 ural History Dr. Elliot greatly aided the 

 trustees by his wise scientific advice — at that 

 time the only resident naturalist in New 

 Tork equipped with the requisite experience 

 and technical knowledge — and acted as their 

 agent for several years in Europe in the pur- 



