482 
JEROME HENRY KIDDER. 
Laboratory, Brooklyn, from 1871 to 1874, and at the Bureau 
of Medicine and Surgery, Washington, from 1879 to 1882. 
Dr. Kidder was recognized as one of the most accomplished 
and efficient surgeons in his corps, and his frank and genial 
disposition gained him hosts of friends. The advantages of 
the naval laboratory at Brooklyn, where he served as an 
assistant from 1871 to 1874, probably led to the chemical 
and physical inquiries which afterward became his favorite 
studies, and in all probability they determined the char¬ 
acter of his principal future work. The Brooklyn labora¬ 
tory was then the only one under the Navy Department 
equipped for general chemical investigations, and it was also 
the naval depot for medical supplies. In addition to the 
customary analyses of drugs, Dr. Kidder was assigned many 
special problems, and while at this place he also prepared a 
chemical test case and manual of instructions for the use of 
medical officers on board ship, which, slightly modified, is 
still issued to naval vessels. 
It was from Brooklyn that Dr. Kidder was ordered to join 
the scientific party sent out by the United States Govern¬ 
ment to observe the transit of Venus at Kerguelen island 
in 1874. Four months were spent in the desolate and in¬ 
clement spot selected for the station, and during that period 
Dr. Kidder was indefatigable in his study of the natural 
history, geology and climatology of the island. No group 
of animals or plants was neglected, and notwithstanding 
the comparative scantiness of the field, his labors were 
well rewarded. After his return to Washington he re¬ 
mained about a year at the Smithsonian Institution study¬ 
ing, with the cooperation of several specialists, the material 
which he had obtained. The results were published by the 
National Museum in two bulletins—one descriptive of the 
birds, the other covering the remaining subjects, with a 
special monograph on Ghionis minor, which has been re¬ 
garded as his most valuable contribution to zoology. The 
outcome of this single expedition was sufficient to demon¬ 
strate Dr. Kidder’s ability and fitness as a naturalist, and 
