NOTES AND QUERIES. 
47 
gists and Naturalists, from which the present association was formed, 
held its last meeting in Boston, when the sphere of its operations were 
enlarged to embrace the Physical Sciences, and in consequence thereof 
the present name and plan of operations were adopted. 
Three meetings have been previously held within the limits of Massa¬ 
chusetts : at Cambridge, in 1849; at Springfield, in 1859; and at Salem, 
in 1869. A large gathering is anticipated. 
Dr. Thomas Mayo Brewer died at his residence in Boston on Friday 
January 23, 1880. Until within a few weeks he had enjoyed good health. 
He was born in Boston Nov. 21, 1814 and has always resided in the city 
of his birth. He graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1835 and 
received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1838 from Harvard, when 
he commenced the practice of his profession at the north end and was 
for many years the Dispensary Physician of that section. His leisure 
hours were devoted to mental culture, though widely apart in their scope 
and relative bearing, ornithology and general politics occupied his atten¬ 
tion. He was associated with Richard Houghton in the editorial depart¬ 
ment of the Boston Atlas and also with William Hayden. During his 
editorial life he not only contributed some of the ablest articles that ap¬ 
peared in its columns, but during a residence in Washington for several 
winters, sent daily letters from the Capitol which were read with great 
interest. After his retirement from editorial life, he formed a business 
connection with the firm of Swan & Tileston, which continued under the 
title of Brewer & Tileston to 1875, when he retired and passed two years 
abroad. 
He took a great interest in educational matters and for many years from 
1844, he was on the Boston school committee and was a very efficient and 
active member. 
His position as an ornithologist is well known in scientific circles. In 
1839 he edited a new edition of Wilson’s ornithology, one volume of a 
fine work on oology, prepared by him, was published by the Smithsonian 
Institution, but was suspended on account of the cost. He also wrote 
most of the biographical portion of the History of North American birds, 
published by Little, Brown & Co. in 1874. In 1878 he contributed to 
Scribner’s Monthly a series of articles on bird architecture which at¬ 
tracted marked attention. He has recently prepared for Harper’s Monthly 
an article upon Audubon. The most pleasant relations long existed be¬ 
tween them, and the great ornithologist honored his friend by naming 
some new species of birds after him. In the social circle he was justly 
esteemed and beloved, and there are many who have enjoyed a life long 
acquaintance with him, who will look in vain among their list of friends, 
to find one who was more personally loyal to friendship and truth. He 
was a member of the Massachusetts Medical ’Society, American Academy 
of Arts and Sciences, Boston Society of Natural History and a corres¬ 
ponding member of several foreign societies. 
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chartered by the 
Commonwealth of Massachusetts May 4, 1780. The oldest institution of 
