DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 5 



' ' Five hundred additional parrots and conirostral birds and a 

 large number of hummingbirds have been purchased in Paris 

 and about 2,000 more are on the way to Philadelphia. Dr. 

 Wilson has been in the city nearly all summer engaged in the 

 arrangement of the geological collections in which very consider- 

 able progress has been made. The importation of books goes 

 on in the most astonishing manner. Dr. Wilson has now nearly 

 all the books in the lists furnished by you and lots of others. 

 All of Gould' s works — all, not a single plate missing. Dr. Wilson 

 is in a treaty with Gould about his collection of Australian birds 

 and has authorized his brother who is in England to buy it at 

 Mr. Gould's price — $5,000. This collection contains all known 

 species of Australian birds except five which said five Mr. G. 

 pledges himself to use his best endeavors to apprehend. 



' ' I tell you what it is, I begin to believe, in some sort of an 

 ornithological farieland or El Dorado or something of that sort 

 in which I think Wilson ought to be Jupiter Amnion at least ! " 



In September, 1848, Pease's Mexican collection was purchased 

 and in December the Des Murs collection of eggs. Then in 

 June, 1849, the arrival is announced of the Gould collection 

 and Bell's Panama collection as well as others. The Boys' 

 Indian collection came later and Cassin remarks of it "Gould 

 has had his paw on 'em — they will be sour grapes for me ! " 



Cassin states again and again that Dr. Wilson is working with 

 him in identifying the unnamed species and some papers he 

 says Wilson helped him with while one on the Caprimulgidae 

 * * Wilson wrote a good part of it himself. ' ' 



One paper only was issued under Doctor Wilson's author- 

 ship, a joint paper with John Cassin, entitled, "On a Third 

 Kingdom of Organized Beings." 



During the examination of the Rivoli collection Cassin con- 

 stantly mentions attacks of sickness brought on by exposure to 

 the arsenical preparations used in curing the specimens, and 

 Dr. Wilson having, in 1859, suffered twice from similar affec- 

 tions, he decided to give up all further contact with specimens 

 preserved with arsenic. Consequently on March 20, 1860, he 

 sent a brief note to Dr. Joseph Leidy, then curator of the 

 Academy, presenting the entire collection of 28,000 specimens 



