“The Oologist.” 
Dr. Frank H. Lattin was born in 
Orleans County, New York, and at a 
very early age evinced an intense love 
for natural history. Like all boys of 
the late “70’s” and early “8o's” he be- 
gan by “making a collection of birds’ 
eggs.” Of an intensively active mind 
and body, he soon outstripped the other 
boys of his locality, and in May, 1884, 
issued the first number of “The Young 
Oologist,” an unusually well gotten up 
boys’ paper of fourteen pages, the first 
article in which was from the pen of 
the millionaire naturalist, J. P. Norris, 
FRANK H. LATTIN. 
of Philadelphia, who in his day amassed 
the leading private collection of Ameri- 
can birds’ eggs. 
Lattin published his “Young Oolo- 
gist” monthly in two volumes until 
June, 1885, when it suspended publica- 
tion only to reappear in a January-Feb- 
ruary, 1*886, number as “The Oologist.” 
Fie continued this publication of “The 
Oologist” regularly until May, 1886, 
when he took into partnership the well- 
known naturalist, Walter F. Webb, of 
Rochester, New York. During this time 
Webb became without doubt the lead- 
ing dealer in oological specimens in 
the United States, and made a wonder- 
ful display of these specimens at the 
World’s Fair at Chicago in 1893. In 
May, 1894, Lattin again resumed entire 
ownership of “The Oologist.” He con- 
tinued uninterruptedly until 1904, when 
he took in, as editor and manager of 
the magazine, Ernest H. Short. During 
the period from 1886-1904 Lattin was 
truly the leading oologist of the United 
States, and “The Oologist” during that 
period was unquestionably the leader of 
its class. 
Practically every student of birds, 
their nests and eggs of the present day 
was in his time a subscriber to Lattin’s 
“Oologist” as well as a patron of it. 
And to this day it is no uncommon 
thing for the present management of 
“The Oologist” to receive mail ad- 
dressed to “F. H. Lattin,” saying the 
writer was a patron of his twenty-five 
or thirty-five years ago, or an old sub- 
scriber to “The Oologist,” and inquir- 
ing if it is still published. 
After Lattin retired from the active 
management of “The Oologist” he be- 
came the leading physician of his terri- 
tory and later became much interested 
in horticulture, particularly apples, for 
which Western New York is famous. 
Making his usual success of this apple 
business, he became connected with 
most of the societies connected with 
horticulture in Western New York, and 
a Life Member of the New York State 
Horticultural Society. In recent years 
Dr. Lattin has been much in politics, 
having been elected and re-elected a 
member of the New York Legislative 
Assembly, where he is now. An evi- 
dence of his popularity in his home dis- 
trict is the fact that each election, seven 
or eight in number, has been by an 
ever increased majority. In the New 
