SETON — STUDY OF LIFE-HISTORY 
67 
FOR A METHODIC STUDY OF LIFE-HISTORIES OF 
MAMMALS 
By Ernest Thompson Seton 
For long I have believed in and used a prepared schedule for methodic 
study of life-histories. It has been my lot many times to find a man 
who did not know how much he knew about a given animal until be 
was subjected to the dragnet of a schedule process, and the results were 
surprising and satisfactory, to himself as well as to the questioner. 
How much we have lost for lack of this, it would be easy to show. 
I happen to have before me Audubon and Bachman’s account of the 
northern graysquirrel. The subjects treated in the various sections of 
its 12 pages are in the following order : 
Name 
Food 
Description 
Numbers 
Characters 
Enemies 
Synonyms 
Migrations 
Description 
Numbers 
Color 
Food 
Varieties 
Distribution 
Measurements 
Comparative description 
Habits 
Various names 
Nesting 
Description 
Pairing 
Young 
Young 
Description 
Habits in captivity 
Measurements 
Rutting season 
Distribution 
Combats 
Color 
Food hoards 
Description 
That is to say there is no attempt at arrangement — no orderly 
approach; the chapter is merely a mass of undigested observations and 
raw material ; and he has omitted a score of important matters that he 
certainly knew about. Bachman did justice neither to the graysquirrel, 
nor to himself. He certainly had ten times the facts about the creature, 
that one might suppose from his article; and the reason he did not set 
them down, was I think, because he had no plan of orderly approach. 
We find this defect in most available life-histories. It seems to me it 
would be remedied, if each naturalist set out with a plan, such as the 
one I^give herewith, and please understand that this is a mere suggestion. 
For over twenty years I have used it myself but am ready to drop 
it as soon as a better one is offered. 
