208 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 972 



influenced by the example of his life and 

 work. 



His father, Thomas Harrison Mont- 

 gomery, was president of the Insurance 

 Company of North America from 1882 

 until his death in 1905. He was a gentle- 

 man of unusual culture and ability, deeply 

 interested in the work of churches, chari- 

 table organizations and educational institu- 

 tions, and the author of several publica- 

 tions on genealogical and historical sub- 

 jects, among which the most notable was a 

 book of nearly six hundred pages entitled 

 "A History of the University of Pennsyl- 

 vania from its Foundation to a.d. 1770." 

 In recognition of his scholarly ability the 

 University of Pennsylvania conferred upon 

 him the honorary degree of Litt.D. He 

 had a large family, six sons and three 

 daughters, and his influence over his chil- 

 dren and their admiration for him deeply 

 impressed all who came into their family 

 circle. Professor Montgomery summed up 

 his "Memoir" of his father in these words: 



One can paint certain traits of this large and 

 ricli character, but it is difficult to make a just 

 portrait. A man of virile and broad mind, of very 

 catholic tastes; a respecter of knowledge and a 

 contributor to it; true and generous to all; with 

 unimpeached personal honor; self -deprecatory but 

 always compelling respect; ever active in work 

 and economical of time, striving to do his best; a 

 wise and tender husband and father, and a noble 

 Christian gentleman. A man of religion that has 

 no harshness but is filled with sweetness and hope 

 and charity. 



In his education and environment Mont- 

 gomery was no less favored than in his 

 inheritance. When he was nine years old 

 his father removed to the country near 

 West Chester, Pa., and here his real educa- 

 tion began in the fields and woods about 

 his country home. It was particularly in 

 the study of birds that the mind of this 

 naturalist was formed and moulded. Not 

 later than his twelfth year he began to 



make a systematic study of the birds found 

 in the vicinity of his home and by the time 

 he was fifteen he had a collection of about 

 250 bird skins, and a record of each speci- 

 men giving the date and locality, food, 

 measurements, and, under "remarks," 

 many observations on anatomical and eco- 

 logical features. By the time he was 

 seventeen his collection had grown to about 

 450 bird skins, and his observations en- 

 tered in his notebooks form many pages, 

 perhaps volumes,^ of interesting and dis- 

 criminating observations on the migrations, 

 habitats, breeding and nesting habits, food 

 and methods of getting it, care of young, 

 songs and notes, and many other details of 

 the life of birds. Other notebooks contain 

 detailed drawings of dissections, skeletons 

 and general anatomical features. Inter- 

 mingled with these observations on birds 

 are many expressions of delight in the 

 beauties of nature, in the splendor of the 

 woods in winter, the joys of an early sum- 

 mer morning, the majesty of a thunder- 

 storm, etc. 



His formal schooling began at Dr. Wor- 

 rall's School in West Chester; afterwards 

 he attended the Episcopal Academy in 

 Philadelphia, where he graduated at the 

 age of sixteen. In the fall of 1889 he en- 

 tered the University of Pennsylvania and 

 continued there until the end of his sopho- 

 more year. While at the university his 

 only biological work was a course of lec- 

 tures by Cope on recent and fossil verte- 

 brates which gave him a deep and lasting 

 interest in comparative anatomy and pale- 

 ontology. Supplementary to his work at 

 the University he spent much time at the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 

 phia, studying in the museums and library, 

 and there he developed that omnivorous 



* The earliest notebook I have seen is headed 

 "Note Book No. 5," and dates from his seven- 

 teenth year. 



