RK-862

Feb 17th/63.

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Folk at Home

You all ask me for details of my life here; and I can readily understand that these must interest you - Now as I'm quite too egotistical by nature to have it desirable that I should culti vate egotism by writing altogether of myself, I'll rather give you somewhat in detail some account of the Megaterium Club who compose my principal associates (of Prof Henry & Prof Baird I think I've sometimes written already) By knowing of these men you'll get a better idea of my doings.

Ill send the photographs of all I can.

Cope, though not here now, was here a while since and will be again - Ive told you something of him already.

He is a Philadelphia quaker - quite young, only about 23, but an old student, a very hard worker and with a very good head "of his own". He is bound to be one of the first naturalists of the age. Fortunately he is indipendantly rich and so can give his whole time to study. He is working especially upon reptiles in which he is far ahead of every one else in this country. For this reason and because he is a P.B. and a good fellow generally with a heart as well as head I like him best of all the young fellows best after Stimpson. As with Stimpson and Ulke I can fraternize with him.

Stimpson is one of those chaps like Panx who make you like them whether you will or no. He is a perfect gentleman, very well educated and ranks with the first zoologists of the age, though only about as old as I am. Stimpson is preeminantly conducive and good hearted and withal is a man of refined feelings and tastes - He has the strange weakness

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weakness of wishing to appear idle, thoughtless, and even dissipated. From merely hearing him talk one would suppose he was a hard drinking idle fellow with no ambition beyond being considered a good fellow. Yet he is extremely modest and does not in reality care at all for praise. He is very sensitive, warm hearted and a staunch friend. I am glad to say that he seems to like me as much as I do him. He and I fraternize more than any other two. Father can tell you more of him he is just as young and fresh as when father was here. I have some slight hopes of seeing stim. in at work in Chicago at some future time when we get a little start in science there - In fact once get such a man connected with any scientific association in Chicago and he alone would put in on a respectable basis among the scientific institutions of the world. His father is a man of moderate means (a merchant in Boston) and Stim endeavors to make his own living - If he

he could secure a respectable salery by so doing, he would wittingly work in the west - If I could only have him with me in Chicago we would so grease the wheels of the Academy or some other Natural History institution, that it would get up a momentum that would run it well up to the top of American zoology in a short time.

Stimpson is one of those kind of men that add add a charm to any pursuit with which they are connected. His presence produces a most happy effect here, giving a rosy tint to the atmosphere of science which pervades this building, while his pleasant style of hard work helps one to be industrious Stim's speciality is marine invertebrates of all kinds.

Gill (Ichtyobranchius, as he is more generally called) is about the oddest fish I've come across. His principal study is fish, though he is well posted in and publishes on various groups. He is a man of decidedly wonderful talent in the matter of classification and study of the higher groups - that is in the investigation of genera, families and orders, in contradistinction to the

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the study of species. And if he would work harder and more patiently at the details he would be one of the first zoologists of the age. As it is he ranks as about the best Ichtyologist of America though he too is quite young - not over 27 or 28.

He has published of late the most enormous amount of matter abrifly[?] on the classification of fishes and has described as many new genera & families as he has species - whether his genera are all good is another question, though many of them are adopted by the highest authorities in Europe. From his not studying species with sufficient thoroughness I should think he would be very liable to make many mistakes even where his views are correct. Agassiz has from this and other causes made some woefully bad work.

You see this matter of working in genera and the higher groups is something different from that on species, and sometimes the man who [illegible] capable