106 ° THE. CONDOR >.” Vol. XXI¢ 
knowledge was ever absorbed more rapidly than by me under Brewster’s tui- 
tion, and soon it was a rare event to see a bird I could not name on sight or by 
its song. 
About this same time I became acquainted with Ruthven Deane, who lived 
hard by the Brewster place, who already had the nucleus of a collection of 
mounted birds, but who, also, soon abandoned the time consuming method of 
mounting birds on stands in favor of the quickly made bird-skin. His business 
eareer in Boston had already begun, later to be transferred to Chicago, but 
such spare time as he had, especially holidays and Saturday afternoons, was 
spent in the woods with his collecting gun, and we had many a good tramp to 
gether, often with Henry Purdie as a third. 
HENRY PURDIE 
At that time Henry Purdie was connected with the Massachusetts State 
Board of Charities, and his office was in the State House in Boston. He also 
was engaged in making a small but choice collection of birds and eggs, chiefly 
loeal species; but I think he was always more interested in studying live birds 
and listening to their songs than in collecting dried skins. His interest in bird 
literature, too, was strong, and the advent of a new local check list or a new 
book on birds was always hailed with pleasure. In pursuit of information on 
his favorite subject he spent many hours weekly in the libraries of Boston. As 
a consequence he was remarkably well posted on general American bird litera- 
ture, and nothing pleased him better than to be called upon to share his knowl- 
edge with and for the benefit of others. He cared little for the fame of the au- 
thor and wrote very little for publication. In later years he became an excel- 
lent field botanist, and came to know the plants of the general region around 
Boston very well indeed. He was one of the rare spirits who are happiest when 
serving others, and it is given to but few men to make as many sincere friends 
as he did. 
E. A. SAMUELS 
I faney there were few boys who collected birds’ eggs round Boston in the — 
sixties who did not know E. A. Samuels. He was then connected with the State 
Agricultural Department, and his office was in the Boston State House. At 
that period he was collecting data for a book on the ‘‘Birds of New England 
and Adjacent States’’, the advent of which was eagerly looked for by us boys 
for several years. Samuels was very pleasant, was always ready for an ex- 
change of eggs, and ever alert for any original data that could be utilized in his 
forthcoming book, which in large measure was a compilation, though a very 
useful one. He was a keen sportsman and an ardent fisherman, and is, perhaps, 
most widely known for the many excellent articles on these subjects he wrote 
for sportsman’s journals. 
EMMANUEL SAMUELS 
Mention of the son naturally recalls to mind the father, Emmanuel Samu- 
~ whom I never saw, but who possesses some interest for Californians, inas- 
1 as, under the joint auspices of the Smithsonian Institution and the Bos- 
yeiety of Natural History, he visited California in 1855 (leaving New York 
5). His mission was to make collections in all branches of natural 
in addition, to gather the seeds of as many California trees and 
‘ble for distribution over the country. This latter duty was im- 
>y the Commissioner of Patents at Washington. For the Pat- 
to be the birth place of that lusty offspring, the Department 
