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May, 1919 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 107 of Agriculture, which did not enter 'upon its separate existence till July 1, 1862, when the Honorable Isaac Newton was appointed first Commissioner. Samuels' principal collecting ground apparently was Petaluma, but he vis- ited Tomales Bay and probably other localities in that general region. The Smithsonian's share of the birds he gathered was 103 specimens and a few eggs, by no means an insignificant number when are considered the multifarious du- ties of the collector. His memory is embalmed in the A. O. U. Check-list ?mder the name of Melospiza melodia samuelis (Baird). Recently I had the pleasure of examining Baird's two types of the' form, the true one being no. 5553 of the National Museum Catalogue, and both skins are in excellent preservation. ACQUAINTANCE WITH C. J. MAYNARD ? C. J. Maynard, living hard by in Newtonville, was then becoming active as a bird collector and dealer, and Brewster and I soon made his acquaintance, and from him learned to make a "bird skin", when the real business of collect- ing .birds for scientific study began for each of us. The so-called New England type of bird skin was soon evolved, due in no small measure to Maynard's skill, and was, I believe, so far as speed in preparation and general excellence goes, superior to anything made up to that time. In my eyes the final touch was at- tained by the adoption of the Coues method of wrapping the green skin in filmy cotton till dry.. Brewster soon abandoned mounting birds on stands for the much quicker and more practical method of making skins, while I had nothing to abandon being still a novice in the taxidermist 's art. Not a single specimen of my skill as a taxidermist survives, and the only. 'triumph I achieved in that direction was a fox sparrow. For its life-like appearance I accept the authority of our house cat. As the mounted bird stood drying on the mantelpiece of my bird room she mistook it for the real thing and, making a wild leap, secured it before realizing her mistake. ACQUAINTANCE WITH R, E. C. STEARNS It was in 1868 that I came in touch with R. E. C. Stearns who, though a New Englander by birth, had lived a decade in California, where he went in 1858, but was then sojourning for a time in Boston. Not only was he a learned and enthusiastic conchologist, but he was one of the most genial and delightful of men. Though much older than I, we soon became great cronies, for he never became too old to love and sympathize 'with the aspirations of young people. Many were the ,happy hours I spent with him in his Boston home, helping him pack and unpack shells, and listening to the anecdotes of which he had a rare fund, including his experiences in that land of romance, California. Under his tutelage I became greatly interested in shells and soon had a collection, largely gifts from his duplicate series. Indeed he used to say that he 'had stolen me 'from the ornithologists. But as I now see,. my interest in shells was largely due to personal association with Stearns, and subsequently was replaced by the more absorbing interest in bird life. The little shell collection, however, made at that time was not withSut value, and now is in Wellesley College. (To be continued)