FROM NEW YORK TO MOMBASA 
SS 
of antelope at his instant command and bore a picture in his mind of 
every kind of creature that through his instrumentality might be added 
to the National Museum’s stores. During his last months in the White 
House a portion of the President’s time was given over to the study of 
the fauna of that part of Africa which the American caravan would 
traverse. The smaller mammals and the birds had not been left out of 
Mr. Roosevelt’s calculations. The scientific interest in a wild creature 
is not gauged by its size; the mouse has its interest no less than the 
lion. 
The expedition into Africa was thoroughly equipped. Every¬ 
thing that knowledge of conditions could suggest had its place in the 
outfit. The quarry that was secured was instantly prepared for trans¬ 
portation. The skins and the hides were well salted and dried, and 
packed in a way that made their preservation certain. Such skeletons 
as were to be saved, and the skulls which were of first value for com¬ 
parative purposes, were cared for as only field scientists knew how, 
and the collected treasures of the African trip were brought to Wash¬ 
ington in a condition to delight the hearts of the government scientists. 
We give below the names and personality of the members of the 
Smithsonian African Expedition. Of Theodore Roosevelt it is not 
necessary to write. What he has done as a scientist and as a hunter 
is known to all. 
Dr. and Colonel Edgar A. Mearns, United States army (retired), 
is a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York 
City. He has been in the military service for twenty-six years and 
during that time while on field duty and on detached service he has 
pursued his zoological studies. Admittedly Dr. Mearns is one of the 
first field naturalists of the country, and his reports and books are ac¬ 
knowledged authorities. His publications include studies of mammals, 
birds and plants. He was the naturalist accredited by the govern¬ 
ment to the Mexican boundary expedition, and as the result of his 
researches the scientific world has the work entitled “Mammals of the 
Mexican Boundary of the United States.” This work includes a 
summary of the natural history of the region covered, with a list of 
the trees of the country adjacent to the boundary. Dr. Mearns knows 
birds as he knows mammals, and his knowledge of American ornith- 
