1958 
Deichmann — Elizabeth Bangs Bryant 
5 
she bought herself. Her first paper came in 1908; it was 
merely a list of local species, but it had probably taken some 
persuasion from her good friend, Mr. Emerton, to let her 
to allow her name to appear in print. It was 15 years later 
that her Barbados-Antigua report was published, and then, 
around 1930, she really began to be a regular contributor. 
Very likely it was the stimulus she received when Dr. 
Barbour saw to it that this volunteer worker of almost 30 
years standing at last received a small salary. She stead- 
fastly refused to be listed in American Men of Science, 
feeling that that was to intrude into the ranks of profes- 
sionally trained, and no argument could change her position 
on that point. It was a great joy to her when other arach- 
nologists visited her and she was always helpful to beginners 
who came to seek her advice. When somebody brought in 
a spider she would tell all about its habits and occurrence, 
and she never crushed the collector with a remark that it 
was one of the most common forms. “It is such a long time 
since I have had occasion to see a live specimen of this 
spider,” — so the person went off feeling that his efforts 
had been fully appreciated. 
Her main scientific work was not started until she was 
55 years old, and continued to her death. Several large 
papers on West Indian spiders were illustrated by her clean 
pen drawings. She was handicapped in her work by an 
inadequate microscope and light (a modified automobile 
spotlight). She worked independently of all but a few col- 
leagues in arachnology. 
For several years her mother’s health was failing and 
she looked after her with unswerving fidelity. After her 
mother’s death she moved from the house in Allston to a 
pleasant top floor apartment in Brookline. It looked as if 
she was going to have more freedom and our long planned 
trip to St. Lucia in the West Indies, the type locality for 
so many of the West Indian spiders, seemed near to becom- 
ing reality, when the old housekeeper’s health gave out and 
Miss Bryant undertook to care for her, most scornful of 
the idea that the housekeeper should be put in a Nursing 
Home. 
There was one unusual activity in which Miss Bryant 
