198 



THE OOLOGIST 



well known omitliologists and oolo- 

 gists in their day. Frank H. Lattin 

 was there and a brief interview was 

 had with him. Walter P. Webb, of 

 Albion, N. Y., with an assistant, at- 

 tended the exhibit, and many pleasant 

 hours were passed in and about the 

 exhibit. Mr. Jacobs just missed meet- 

 ing A. M. (Shields, the well known 

 oologist of Los Angeles, California. 

 Webb tried to call Mr. Shields, who 

 had just left and was still in sight, 

 'but the noise of the throng inter- 

 cepted his call, and Shields was soon 

 lost sight of in the crowd. 



Looking over t(he Lattin exhibit, 

 Mr. Jacobs expressed the desire to 

 purchase an Ostrich egg and a very 

 fine imitation of the Great Auk's egg, 

 but the rules of the Exposition pro- 

 hibited selling anything from the ex- 

 hibition cases, and Webb had to 

 watch his chance to slip the Auk's 

 egg from the case while no guards 

 were in sight. That was none of Mr. 

 Jacob's business, but he got the 

 prized cast of the Great Auk's egg, 

 just the same, and it still reposes in 

 the collection of eggs, the only arti- 

 ficial egg in the Museum. 



Aside from his own collection of 

 eggs, the Lattin exhibit and a small 

 demonstration collection exhibited by 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 no other of the numerous World col- 

 lections of eggs were to be seen on 

 the grounds. 



Many months elapsed after the clos- 

 ing of the Fair before his eggs were 

 returned, during which time he felt 

 some anxiety over the delay, and the 

 Harrisburg authorities were jogged a 

 little, whereupon the collection came 

 to hand with a mild reprimand to him 

 for his impatiences ! 



A brief description and list of this 

 collection is given on page 165 and 

 168 to 71, "Catalogue of the Exhibits 

 of the State of Pennsylvania, and of 

 Pennsylvanians at the World's Colum- 



bian Exposition, Chicago, 1893," pub- 

 lished by the state. One of the cases 

 in which the eggs were arranged, can 

 be seen in the halftone plate follow- 

 ing page 165, same publication. 



The eggs back home and again re- 

 placed in the cabinets, was a comfort 

 to him, and impressed him with a 

 feeling that no future exhibits would 

 be made, but in a few years, the state 

 authorities prevailed upon him to 

 make a similar exhibit at the Atlanta 

 Cotton States Exposition, Atlanta, 

 Ga., with a trip there to install the 

 same. Lack of State appropriations, 

 however, curtailed much of the ex- 

 hibit plans, which included the Natur- 

 al History displays. 



After a large three days' exhibit, 

 including the entire collection of 

 North American Birds' Eggs, in 1896, 

 at his home County Centennial, the 

 eggs again wenit in repository in the 

 Museum cabinets, hidden away from 

 the public in general, until the fall 

 of 1903, when a letter was received 

 from Prof. H. A. Surface, then State 

 Zoologist at Harrisburg, inquiring if 

 an exhibit similar to the one at Chi- 

 cago could be arranged for the com- 

 ing St. Louis World's Fair. Disliking 

 to run the risk of loss or damage to 

 the only complete, privately owned 

 collection of birds' eggs seen at the 

 Chicago World's Fair, he hesitated 

 further venture of these historical 

 treasurers. Investigation throughout 

 the cabinets disclosed the fact that 

 159 species indigenous to Pennsylvan- 

 ia could be drawn from the study 

 series withoue disturbing more than 

 three sets comprising the section ex- 

 hibited at Chicago. 



Accordingly a collection, far super- 

 ior to his exhibit seen at Chicago 

 World's Fair, was selected from the 

 study series, and such species as 

 warblers, etc., having small nests, 

 were not only represented in the 

 regular display of eggs, but a nest 



