Vol. XVIII 



1901 



Elliot, In Memoriam : Elliott Coues. 



writings, though none had the power to be more so, but when 

 from whatever the cause that influenced him he permitted himself 

 to indulge in phrases that would be remembered and might pos- 

 sibly leave a sting, he set down ' naught in malice,' but em- 

 ployed a phraseology that he honestly believed was best suited to 

 the case in hand, and after some such severe articles had been 

 issued, he has spoken to me in the kindest way of the author of 

 the work or act he had so criticised or condemned, apparently 

 entirely unconscious that it could possibly affect any friendly rela- 

 tions or be the means of any estrangement. It was the senti- 

 ment advanced, or the conclusion reached, that was the object of 

 his attack, not the individual who was the author. In all his crit- 

 ical reviews there is no thought of self, but only desire to do 

 justice to his subject and to its author, and if anything could 

 be charged against him on this point, it was an evident inclination 

 always to find something to praise. 



In his scientific writings he was always extremely lucid, and 

 conservative in his methods, and he had but little sympathy for 

 the hair splitting and microscopic variations in the appearance of 

 animals, that is the joy and delight of some naturalists in these 

 later days. He was a scholar and knew his Greek and Latin, 

 and with a scholar's instinct and abhorrence of incorrect phrase- 

 ology, he strove with all his might to inculcate not only in his 

 own scientific writings, but in those of others the true principles 

 of etymology and philology, and both by tongue and pen, in the 

 keen analytical style of which he was an undisputed master, he 

 strove with all the force of his energetic personality against the 

 unfortunate and mistaken doctrine that the perpetuation of errors 

 can ever be permissible, much less commendable. He possessed 

 a command of language gained by few and the beauty of his style 

 and his felicity of expression has created numerous pen pictures 

 of the habits and appearances of our wild creatures that have 

 never been excelled by any writer, if indeed they have been 

 equalled. 



While a keen and just critic himself, he was very sensitive 

 regarding the opinion of others towards his own productions, and 

 sought the approbation of those who were bound closely to him 

 either by earthly ties or an intimate friendship, or whose knowledge 



