FIFTY YEAKS OF MUSEUM WORK 



The public schools were of the usual type of fifty or sixty years ago, 

 giving what I still feel to be a rather practical training for the needs of 

 nineteen out of twenty average men and women. There was little or no 

 attempt to make studies interesting and this was particularly true of 

 geography and history, the latter of which I abandoned for Latin as 

 soon as opportunity offered. A little more than three years of Latin 

 gave me a smattering that became useful later on when I had to deal 

 with scientific names, and I mastered a few elementary principles of 

 grammar — since forgotten. English grammar I studied for two years in 

 the parrot fashion then in vogue, without understanding anything more 

 about it than Chimmie Fadden did of politics. "Physical Geography " I 

 acquired off-hand by simply reading it over, but geography proper, "as 

 she was taught," I hated, though it served a purpose. 



A year of French proved to be very useful in later years; a year of 

 Greek I consider as misspent time. I have read with awe and admi- 

 ration Huxley's remarks on what he considered only a fair education. 



There were few "nature books" in those days, but in the grammar 

 grade we had Youman's Child's Book of Nature read to us once or twice 

 a week for a year. 



I collected bird skins, birds' eggs, insects and postage stamps in a 

 desultory manner, not with any particular end in view but simply be- 

 cause they were interesting occupations, and went fishing as often as I 

 could— which I still do, though unhappily the opportunity so to do 

 comes but seldom. 



It was a matter of keen regret with me that I was "a duffer" so far 

 as athletics went. I skated, coasted, swam, played ball and later on 

 shot, but never well. I could not turn a handspring nor do the least bit 

 of fancy skating, and in baseball the right field always fell to my lot. 

 The curious fact is, I was fairly good at mechanics and though never 

 first class, decidedly more handy with tools than the great majority of 

 my associates, and this mechanical ability had a great influence on my 

 career. 



Three years-two long voyages, 1861-62 and 1869-70, and two short 

 one™* spent at sea, for these were the good days of sailing ships 

 when a Captain was aUowed to take his family with him, and on these 

 voyages I picked up a little practical knowledge of geography, made the 

 acquaintance of a few beasts, birds and fishes, andsaw enough of a sailor's 

 hfe to determine me never to be one. To some these years might appear 

 wasted but it was a period of life when time was not so important 



