September 9, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



327 



years was director of the museum of the 

 latter city. He died on the twelfth of 

 December, 1846. 



A very interesting biography of Lesueur 

 by Dr. E. T. Hamy, a member of the Insti- 

 tute of France, appeared in 1904, entitled 

 'Les Voyages du Naturaliste Ch. Alexandre 

 Lesueur dans I'Amerique du Nord (1815- 

 1837).' It was published (1904) in the 

 Journal de la Societe des Americanist es de 

 Paris (Vol. V.) as a special 'Numero dedie 

 par la Societe a roeeasion de 1 'Exposition 

 Universelle de Saint Louis.' It is illus- 

 trated by many landscape views reproduced 

 from originals of Lesueur. 



IV. 



Next in order of time comes a work whose 

 like was never seen in any other country 

 and has never been equaled since. An 

 expert in ichthyology, who should see it for 

 the first time, without previous knowledge' 

 of it, might suppose that the author was 

 an irresponsible idiot who had not intel- 

 ligence enough to appreciate elementary 

 facts. An ordinarily bad book might be 

 left unnoticed, but the one in question is so 

 abnormally bad as to be a curiosity of 

 ichthyological literature, and interest and 

 wonder must be excited at the variety of 

 errors an educated man may be subjected 

 to in a field of which he had no knowledge. 

 Now hear who this man was and what posi- 

 tions of honor and profit were conferred on 

 him. 



Jerome Van Crowninshield Smith was 

 born in Conway, N. H., July 20 (or 22), 

 1800, was graduated at the medical de- 

 partment of Brown College in 1818, and 

 again at Berkshire Medical School in 1825 

 (or 1822). He became the first professor 

 of anatomy and physiology in the latter 

 institution. In 1825, he settled in Boston, 

 was port physician from 1826 to 1849, and 

 meanwhile was editor of several medical 

 or -other periodicals, among which were the 



Boston Medical Intelligencer (1823-1826), 

 the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 

 (1834-1856), and the Medical World (1857 

 -1859). In 1854, he was elected by the 

 Native American, otherwise called the 

 'know-nothing' party, mayor of Boston, 

 and served a single term (1854^5). Sub- 

 sequently, he removed to New York where 

 his son was resident, and was appointed to 

 the professorship of anatomy and physiol- 

 ogy in the New York Medical College. 

 During the war of 1861-5, 'he went to New 

 Orleans, where he accepted the position of 

 acting inspector-general, with the rank of 

 colonel, and he was the chairman of a com- 

 mission appointed by Banks to consider the 

 sanitary condition of the city.' He died 

 at Richmond, Mass., in the residence of his 

 sister-in-law, August 21, 1879. 



His obituarist, in his old periodical, the 

 Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, re- 

 cords that, 'although a man of no great 

 ability, he could turn his hand to almost 

 anything. For instance, it is said of him 

 that, as a college boy, he was the champion 

 drummer of his class. Later in life he 

 was alternately anatomist, historian, nat- 

 uralist, politician, a writer of books of 

 travel, sculptor, editor and orator. He 

 kept a whole set of the 'Encyclopedia 

 Britanniea,' on his office table and nearly 

 every page was said to have a book-mark in 

 it. He was a successful modeler in clay. 

 Although a busy and active man, his prac- 

 tise was never a large one, but he never- 

 theless acquired considerable property' — 

 testifying to another important talent! 



Smith was a voluminous author and, be- 

 sides numerous contributions to the period- 

 icals he edited, published nearly a dozen 

 independent volumes on various subjects. 

 The only one of interest in the present 

 connection is his 'Natural History of the 

 Fishes of Massachusetts, ' issued first in 

 1833, and again, as a 'second edition,' in 



