254 
JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY 
DR. JOEL ASAPH ALLEN— AN APPRECIATION! 
By E. W. Nelson 
[Plates 13-1 4 ] 
With the passing of Dr. Joel Asaph Allen modern American science 
lost one of its foremost pioneer leaders. It was my privilege to know 
him for a period of more than 45 years. First when as a boy interested 
in birds in northern Illinois I secured there the first specimens of a 
sharp-tailed sparrow. Doctor Allen learned of this and at his request 
they were forwarded for his examination, with the result that he de- 
scribed the bird as a geographic form previously unknown to science. 
This was followed by his kindly encouragement and a personal interest 
in securing the publication of several of my first papers on birds, thus 
supplying some of the final factors which resulted in my decision to 
follow a scientific career. I believe that many other beginners were 
similarly helped through his direct intervention. 
From the time of our early communications I regarded him as a 
personal friend, and in later years when we came into more direct 
contact we passed many enjoyable hours together, both in his office 
and while I was a guest in his home. In social intercourse his quiet 
geniality made him a delightful companion. The persistence of his 
work did not rob him of the power of seeing the humorous side of 
things nor of a quiet but lively appreciation of fun. 
Another little-known phase of his experiences and character was 
uncovered when after knowing him for many years I accidentally learned 
that in the early days he had personally made large collections of big 
game in the West for the museum at Cambridge and that he had been 
more than an average good shot with a rifle; those collections including 
bison, elk, deer, antelope, and mountain sheep, with numerous smaller 
species. During one of my visits at his home I brought up the matter 
of these experiences and was deeply interested as he described many 
of the episodes in securing these specimens. His spariding eyes and 
unusual animation showed that under his quiet demeanor he must have 
possessed much youthful enthusiasm. 
Comparatively few men living now can appreciate the difficulties 
that beset the path of the young naturalist in the days when Doctor 
1 Presented at the dedication of the North American Mammal Hall in the 
American Museum of Natural History, to the memory of Doctor Allen, during the 
fourth annual meeting of the Society in New York, May 18, 1922. 
