Lawson—Thure Kumlien. 
683 
While in the museum, for the last seven years of his life, he 
employed himself, 
“as taxidermist and conservator, to take care of the collections in the 
museum. His first work among the museum collections was the exam¬ 
ination and classification of the mounted specimens of birds and mam¬ 
malia, which was followed by an examination of the skin collections 
stored away in the museum” ( 24 ). 
During his incumbency the museum was located in the origi¬ 
nal Exposition Building, which was later burned. 
While at the museum, Kumlien employed himself with stuffing 
and mounting some few birds, and also in sorting over geological 
specimens and arranging them in the cases. In the afternoon he 
gave much time and attention to visitors that crowded the place, 
and assisted when the crowds were greatest during annual exhi¬ 
bitions in the main exhibition rooms. He had finished the ex¬ 
amination and repair of birds and animals then mounted and in 
place in the museum, and had got up the boxes of skins that had 
been shipped to the museum and stored away until such time as 
his duties permitted him to restore and mount them. 
The exact facts as to his death are a bit hazy at this late date; 
but Mr. Carl Thai, who has been for twenty-seven years librarian 
at the museum, and was engaged in the museum at the time and 
knew Kumlien, who lived with Mr. Thai, recalls 
“that it was the impression at the time of Professor Kumlien’s death, 
that it was due to the effec of corrosive sublimate poisoning through in¬ 
halation. He was working over a large collection of prepared bird skins, 
which had been poisoned with corrosive sublimate, and it was assumed 
that he inhaled a considerable amount of this deadly poison and that it 
was this that caused his death” C 25 ). 
Kumlien died at Passavant Hospital (now Milwaukee Hospital) 
at 3:30 in the afternoon, of Sunday, August 5, 1888, the same 
day he was taken to the hospital. The hospital record reads: 
“K. Kumlien, 69 years old. Protestant, German nationality, admitted 
Aug. 5, 1888, diagnosis chronic diarrhoea. Died same day. Physician 
Dr. Nicholas Senn.” 
The “K”, should be “Thure”: “German” should be “Swe¬ 
dish”. It is gratifying to know that he had as attending phy¬ 
sician the renowned Dr. Nicholas Senn. As the disease was re¬ 
ported as chronic, it is safe to assume that long working with and 
inhaling small quantities of deadly poisons finally undermined his 
