1925: Joseph Grinnell's field notes

Collector: Grinnell - 1925 Location: San Diego Date: March 3, 1925 Page Number: 2453

sharp in his criticism of Kammerers "inheritance of-acquired-characters" experiment, which have been quoted in both the English and the American press with so much deference of late. Sumner thinks said "experiments" were unscientific, and Kammerer him self an incritical enthusiast, carried away by his and ideas and the publicity that has been accorded them. I also met for a moment the new Director Vaughn, who seemed to be working with corals.

Today, I've been in the Museum at Balboa Park, looking on the study collections of mammals and birds. They are of two sources - the old Hawk Stephens collection dating back to 1874, and the lately-collected material gathered by the present curator of birds and mammals, Laurence Huey. Mr. Stephens is a sort of curator emeritus, a pensioner. He and Mrs. Stephens (who is curator of molluscs) together, I am told, received $75 per month - scarcely enough to live on, surely! Each puts in "half-time." Sunday afternoon I visited the Stephens's at their home, 3746 Park Blvd. - only two houses in sight when it was built, some 25 years ago, but now surrounded by apartments and modern homes. The Stephens are holding on to this property in hopes of selling to better advantage "soon"' but its all they can do to pay the taxes, $160 last year. I found Mr. Stephens

Collector: Grinnell - 1925 Location: San Diego Date: March 3, 1925 Page Number: 2454

fairly cheerful - about as he was in 1910, at the time of the Colorado River expedition. But he is forgetful, and shows his old age plainly - and normally. He doesn't approve of the ways of Huey! But his perceptions are dim. I am quite favorably impressed with the earnestness and general good judgement of Clinton G. Abbott, Director of the Museum here. He seems to have the confidence of many of the foremost business-men of the city. This noon he took me to the University Club to lunch, with Mr. Joseph W. Sefton, Jr., a banker. The latter is now President of the San Diego Society of Natural History and a good patron. Sunday evening I called on Mr. + Mrs. Albert M. Ingersoll and they invited over Mr. + Mrs. John Burnham. Ingersoll have a wonderful, well cared for collection of birds' eggs, nearly all taken by himself during the past 40 years. And Burnham, a man of 58 or so and successful in real estate, emulates him. The latter, too, is treasurer of the San Diego society of Natural History. Burnham has a son, Gordon, in business with him, when I met. He has been into the San Pedro Martir section of Lower California, and through him and several others I have learned much of possible use as to how to get about among the people of that territory. This information I am writing to Lamb.

Collector: Grinnell - 1925 Location: San Diego Date: March 3, 1925 Page Number: 2455

Notes on specimens in Museum of San Diego Society of Natural History:

Vulpes macrotis [male symbol], stuffed skin, exceedingly faded; #116, orig no. 550, Frank Stephens; April 19, 1889; "San Jacinto Plains, near Moreno, Cal."; 772-282-116; "topotype". Pale sandy yellow, above and below; ears, feet, legs, and tail the same save for brown (faded black) tip of tail; overhairs of back frizzled at ends. Mustella vison energumenos #10 (no 2336, F. Stephens); Robbins Creek, 4600 ft. alt., "Lassen Co., Cal." Wt. 22 oz.; 508-181-50; female, suckling young, mammae 3/3 = 6; July 3, 1894. Of dark "energumenos" type - stuffed skin. Vulpes macrotis female ju., small young, "445-165"; April 19, 1889; #551 Frank Stephens (same locality as above). This should be borrowed for description. [Stuffed skin.] Bassariscus astutus raptor female, "two foetesus, small"; #5 (= 2313, Frank Stephens); "Eel River Bridge, Mendocino Co. Cal." May 16, 1894. 695-343-66. Procyon ps. pallida female #954 (2894 F. Stephens); New River Colorado Desert, Cal. Jan. 8, 1894. 820 - 311 - 130, "ear from crown" 66. Procyon ps. pallida female° #1 (= 3412, F. Stephens); New River, Colorado Desert, Cal.; "25 Nov 1906." 500 - 191 - 98 - 53. Only about 1/4 grown! I noticed quite a number of mammals collected by Stephens in the "Lassen section", some of which might provide useful information, after our own fieldwork there is done.

Collector: Grinnell-1925 Location: San Diego Date: June 17, 1925 Page Number: 2456

11 a.m. - Went to dinner last evening with the Griffing Bancrofts - Mr. and Mrs., and his son Griffing. All are ardent collectors of birds eggs, and, being well-to-do, their collection is large and growing amazingly. Mr. Bancroft collects, and hires collectors, and buys eggs. He showed me two each of Bald Eagle taken this year on Catalina and San Clemente islands, several sets of Golden Eagle, etc., etc. He has bought the balance of the Walter E. Bryant eggs from H. F. Duprey, with some Guadalupe Island things among them; the old collection of "Parkhurst" of San Jose, containing White Tailed Kites, etc., etc. I regret to say that Bancroft is very unscientific in all his methods: He fails to put any sort of numbers on the eggs - of the same or of different sets - he merely puts a "floating" number (tagged on a slip of paper) on the cotton drawer-lining at the side of each set - the number referring to an entry in a catalog where presumably all the data is kept. His identifications are dubious in some cases - he looks for differences in the eggs of related subspecies - and identifies subspecies by the eggs (a la Dawson!). As I said, he buys wholesale, often from boys and from fishermen, identifying the eggs by appearance - and he doesn't know the birds themselves. But he has great energy and ingenuity in ransacking the country for rarities - quantity, too, he wants. I doubt if he respects 'limits' of his permits! I wish his objectives could be modified a bit.

Collector: Grinnell-1925 Location: San Diego Date: March 4, 1925 Page Number: 2457 (8) (?)

I had nearly two hours' visit with Senor Jose Maria Gallegos, really the man I came down to see. He proved affable to a degree; promised to do everything in his power for the University party, and if words count he is an ally. However, he was far more eager to tell me, in his rather broken English, about his own accomplishments and aims than to learn anything from me. He had a typed report of his own to the Mexican headquarters at Mexico City, from which he read and explained long excerpts. It covered his various local trips with Huey, the Calif. Acad. Sci. people and others - narrative with records of some of the birds and mammals taken - illustrated profusely with photos, in many of which he himself appeared conspicuously! I noted many statements and forms of expression obviously taken from U.S. reports, translated. He is thus imitative, as also is the "museum" work he is undertaking at Tijuana, Mexicale and Juarez. At these points the Mexican government, thru him, is establishing little museums of natural history, for "education of the children and amusement of the tourists." On the whole, tho childishly self-important, I liked Gallegos; he is gentlemanly anyway, which some Americans are not! Returned to Los Angeles in P.M.; there via "Owl" to Berkeley.