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ys the prema tre - or Edward D. Cope. HS * a most favorable thie, in - partive nuatomy first felt the 'Omgn of Spetes,' and years his active ind h.s our progress in no less than as of research. In each his ole and leadership will be He passed away up a April offitty-seven in the full vigor tual powers, leaving a large work in omplete. Alust at contrib, led several 'r vi s to and upon the Tuesday p Fath he sent to the press an one of his University lectures 'atest ideas of the class heatbrata. Fortwo months lis en affected by a serious disLight possibly have been a surgical operation. This net dy postponed until it was etic end came so suddenly that ecided not to remove him from n Pine Street, which was hopi 1 maseum. He thus pas d e of his life work, surrondi's and ho sks. A gathering of ends in his memory also took w days later. I will proves et with his life, as he len zeg entific treasures for the benedelphin Academy of Sciences sity of Pennsylvania. It is following sketch of his early view of his principal wrt

del, 'a, Jdy 2, 19, of distal food A mene parcestry "is great-gion, 1.7 Calch C Auf have been the stai Qoker of Lancaster, Pa. WL PA Major Autres from 1ob violence. Pim Cope, hin radiðum r, finded th house of Cope Brothers, 1, n to the early mercantile aus of Philadelpi.a. !!‚w father was Altred, the junior member of tre firma, a man of very active? Tet, whe showed rare judgment in Fw tion. Together the torson can e br. 4. lavet gators, the faber stimmel, “iz by questions and by thy s the string of nature an3«o Lateral ob ects which taa son, showed at an wasually early 120.

NATURAL science and philosophy have sustained a heavy loss in the premature death of Professor Edward D. Cope. His work began at a most favorable time, in 1859, when comparative anatomy first felt the impetus of the 'Origin of Species,' and for thirty-eight years his active mind has been hastening our progress in no less than five great lines of research. In each his inspiring example and leadership will be sadly missed. He passed away upon April 12th, at the age of fifty-seven,in the full vigor of his intellectual powers, leaving a large part of his work incomplete. Almost at the last he contributed several reviews to the Naturalist, and upon the Tuesday preceding his death he sent to the press an elaborate outline of his University lectures containing his latest ideas of the classification of the Vertebrata. For two months his health had been affected by a serious disorder, which might possibly have been remedied by a surgical operation. This was unfortunately postponed until it was too late, and the end came so suddenly that his family decided not to remove him from his house, in Pine Street, which was both his study and museum. He thus passed away in the scene of his life work, surrounded by his fossils and books. A gathering of his scientific friends in his memory also took place here a few days later. His will proves to be consistent with his life, as he leaves all his rare scientific treasures for the benefit of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences and the University of Pennsylvania. It is hoped that the following sketch of his early life and brief review of his principal writ

ings will give some idea of his genius and of his position in the world of science.

Edward Drinker Cope was born in Philadelphia, July 28, 1840, of distinguished American ancestry.* His great-grandfather, Caleb Cope, is said to have been the staunch Quaker of Lancaster, Pa., who protected Major Andre from mob violence. Thomas Pim Cope, his grandfather, founded the house of Cope Brothers, famous in the early mercantile annals of Philadelphia. His father was Alfred, the junior member of the firm, a man of very active intellect, who showed rare judgment in Edward's education. Together the father and son became brisk investigators, the father stimulating by questions and by travel the strong love of nature and of natural objects which the son showed at an unusually early age.

In August, 1847, they took a sea voyage to Boston, and the son's journal is full of drawings of jellyfish, grampuses and other natural objects seen by the way. When eight and a half years old he made his first visit to the Museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 'on the 21st day of the 10th Mo., 1848,' as entered in his journal; he brought away careful drawings, measurements and descriptions of several larger birds, but especially the figure of the entire skeleton of an Icthyosaur, with this quaint memorandum: "Two of the sclerotic plates look at the eye-thee will see these in it."

*In the preparation of this article the writer is indebted to several members of Professor Cope's family, also to Professor Bashford Dean and to Professor

George Baur. The latter has contributed especially a section upon the Reptilia.

At the age of ten he was taken upon a longer voyage to the West Indies. Thus the child was in a remarkable degree the father of the man. The principal impression he gave in boyhood was of incessant activity in mind and body, of quick and ingenious thought, reaching in every direction for knowledge, and of great independence in character and action. It is evident that he owed far more to paternal guidance in the direct study of nature and to his own impulses as a young investigator than to the five or six years of formal education which he received at school. He was especially fond of map drawing and of geographical studies. His natural talent for languages may have been cultivated in some degree by his tutor, Dr. Joseph Thomas, an excellent linguist, editor of a biographical dictionary. Many of his spare winter hours were passed at the Academy. After the age of thirteen the summer intervals of boarding school life and later of tutoring were filled among the woods, fields and streams of Chester county, Pa., where an intimate knowledge of birds was added to that of batrachians, reptiles and insects. He always showed a particular fondness for snakes. One of these excursions, taken at the age of nineteen, is described in a letter to his cousin (dated June 24, 1859); at the close of a charming description of the botany of the region appears his discovery of a new type:

"I traced the stream for a very considerable distance upon the rocky hillside, my admiration never ceasing, but I finally turned off into the woods towards some towering rocks. Here I actually got to searching for Salamanders and was rewarded by capturing two specimens of species which I never before saw alive. The first (Spelerpes longicauda) is a great rarity here. I am doubtful of its having been previously noted in Chester county. Its length is 6 inches, of which its tail forms nearly four. The color is deep brownish yellow, thickly spotted with black, which becomes confluent on the tail, thus forming bands. To me a very interesting animal-the type of the genus Spelerpes, and consequently of the sub

family Spelerpinæ, which I attempted to characterize in a paper published in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences. I send thee a copy, with the request that thee will neither mention nor show it, * for however trifling-I would doubtless be miserably annoyed by some if thee should. Nobody in this country (or in Europe, of ours) knows anything about Salamanders, but Professor Baird and thy humble coz., that is in some respects. Rusconi, the only man who has observed their method of reproduction, has written enough to excite greatly one's curiosity and not fully satisfy it. With suitable appliances of aquariums, etc., I should like to make some observations. The other Salamander I caught was Plethodon glutinosum-the young-remarkable for the great number of teeth that lie together in two patches on the 'basisphenoid' bone; about 300 or more."

Another passage gives an insight into his strong opinion, so often expressed afterward, as to what constitutes the real pleasures of life:

"Pleasant it is, too, to find one whose admiration of nature and detail is heightened, not chilled, by the necessary 'investigation '-which in my humble opinion is one of the most useful as well as pleasing exercises of the intellect, in the circle of human study. How many are there who are delighted with a 'fine view,' but who seldom care to think of the mighty and mysterious agency that reared the hills, of the wonderful structure and growth of the forests that crown them, or of the complicated mechanism of the myriads of higher organisms that abound everywhere; who would see but little interesting in a fungus, and who would shrink with affected horror from a defenseless toad* * # Dr. Leidy is getting up a great work on comparative anatomy which is to be the modern standard. Such a work will be very useful to those who want to go to the bottom of natural history; it is an interesting study, too, to notice the modifications in form-the degradations,† substitutions, etc., among the internal organs and bones. The structure, forms and positions of teeth, too, are interesting to notice—so invariably are they the index of the economy and the position in nature of the animal."

This is the reflection of a lad of nineteen, an age at which some modern educators

*This passage probably indicates that he was sensitive to being teased about his interest in these animals.

†A word used by French writers of the time to express lines of descent.