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 106.. "' TH] CONDOR Vol. XXI: knowledge was ever absorbed more rapidly than by me under Brewster's tui- tion, and soon it was a rare event to see a bird I could not name on sight or by its song. : I ,, About this same time I became acquainted with Ruthyen Deane, whb lived hard by the Brewster place, who already had the nucleus of a collection of mounted birds, but who, also, soon abandoned the time consuming method of mounting birds on stands in favor of the quickly made bird-skin. His business career in Boston had already begun, later to be transferred to Chicago, but such spare time as he had, especially holidays and Saturday afternoons, was spent in the woods with his collecting gun, and we had many a good tramp to getler, often with Henry Purdie as a third. HENRY PURDIE At that time Henry Purdle wa.s connected with the Massachusetts State Board of Charities, and his office was in the State House in Boston. He also was engaged in making a small but choice collection of birds and eggs, chiefly local species; but I think he was always more interested in studying live birds and listening to their songs than in collecting dried skins. His interest in bird literature, too, was strong, and the advent of a new local cheek list or a new book on birds was always hailed with pleasure. In pursuit of information on his favorite subject he spent many hours weekly in the lbraries of Boston. As a consequence he was remarkably well posted on general American bird litera- ture, and nothing pleased him better than to be called upon to share his knowl- edge with and for the benefit of others. He cared little for the fame of the au- thor and wrote very little for publication. In later years he became an excel- lent field botanist, and came to know the plants of the general region around Boston very well indeed. He was one of the rare spirits who are happiest when serving others, and it is given to but few men to make as many sincere friends as he did. E. A. SAMUELS I fancy there were few boys who collected birds' eggs round Boston in the sixties who did not know E. A. Samuels. He was then connected with the State Agricultural Department, and his office was in the Boston State House. At that period he was collecting data for a book on the "Birds of New England and Adjacent States", the advent of which was eagerly looked for by us boys for several years. Samuels was very pleasant, was always ready for an ex- change of eggs, and ever alert for any original data that could be utilized in his forthcoming book, which in large measure was a compilation, though a very useful one. He was a keen sportsman and an ardent fisherman, and is, perhaps, most widely known for the many excellent articles on these subjects he wrote for sportsman's journals. EMMANUEL SAMUELS Mention of the son. naturally recalls to mind the father, Emmanuel Samu- els, whom I never saw, but who possesses some interest for Californiafis, inas- much as, under the joint auspices of the Smithsonian Institution and the Bos- ton Society of Natural History, he visited California in 1855 (leaving New York November 5). His mission was to make collections in all branches of natural history, and, in addition, to gather the seeds of as many California trees and shrubs as possible for distribution over the country. This latter duty was im- posed upon him by the Commissioner of Patents at Washington. For the Pat- ent Office proved to be the birth place of that lusty offspring, the Department