154 AUDUBON, THE NATURALIST 



than new obstacles were encountered. To quote the nat- 

 uralist : ^^ 



Having obtained access to the collection sent by Dr. Town- 

 send, I turned over and over the new and rare species, but he 

 was absent at Fort Vancouver, on the shores of the Columbia 

 River ; Thomas Nuttall had not yet come from Boston, and loud 

 murmurs were uttered by the soi-disant friends of science, who 

 objected to my seeing, much less portraying and describing, 

 those valuable relics of birds, many of which had not yet been 

 introduced into our Fauna. 



At length, "it was agreed," to continue his account of 

 the transaction, 



that I might purchase duplicates, provided the specific names 

 agreed upon by Mr. Nuttall and myself were published in Dr. 

 Townsend's name. This latter part of the affair was perfectly 

 agreeable to my feelings, as I have seldom cared much about 

 priority in the naming of species. I therefore paid for the 

 skins which I received, and have now published such as proved 

 to be new, according to my promise. But, let me assure you, 

 Reader, that seldom, if ever in my life, have I felt more dis- 

 gusted with the conduct of any opponents of mine, than I was 

 with the unfriendly boasters of their zeal for the advancement 

 of ornithological science, who at that time existed in the fair 

 city of Philadelphia. 



While still in Philadelphia, on October 23, Audubon 

 wrote to Thomas Brewer that Dr. Morton, the corre- 

 sponding secretary of the Academy, had not only per- 

 mitted him to portray the new birds but had sold him 

 "ninety odd of the skins, forming a portion of the col- 

 lection," and added that with his other acquisitions they 

 would swell his "catalogue to the number of 475, all of 

 which must be introduced in my fourth volume." 



^'Ornithological Biography (Bibl. No. 2), vol. iv, p. xi. 



