Evening star., 1899-03-18
SCIENTISTS HAVE FUN

The brother scientists of one of the chief
"birdologists'' at the Smithsonian Institu-
ton had some fun with that good-natured
gentleman-one Of the most eminent expo
nsnts of the science pertaining to feathered
CT eatures in the world-not long ago. They
caused an item to work its way into cir
culation and to be spread broadcast
throughout the country, to the effect that
the ordinary passenger pigeon of birdology
was, for some inexplicable reason or other:
dying out so rapidly that the Smithsonian
Institution desired a number of specimens
of the same for stuffing and mounting pur-
poses. Now, passenger pigeons are not so
numerous as English sparrows, of course,
but, all the sama. there are so many of
them extant that they stand an excellent
chance of enduring as a species as long
as the human race inhabits this globe. The
bird scientist declines to state just how
many boxes of passenger pigeons he has
received up to date, together with please
remit bills through the mails for the same,
but the passenger pigeons are said to be still
a-coming. They are sent back, express
charges c. o. D., in each case, and howls
come in a-plenty to the effect that some
OF the birds have expired on the return
trip, and demanding payment for these
dead ones.
look at first or even second glance like an
outfit wherein there is likely to be any
run worth speaking of, but the corps of
really distinguished scientists who work
over there do, in fact, enjoy their daily
quota of humor right along. 1t doesn't
necessarily follow that because a man is
a scientist with a lot of queer initials after
his name he does not partake of at least
some OF the distinctly human attributes of
mis- genus The truth is that they are an
extraordinarily cheerful, unassuming set
OF gentlemen, and they are INCREASINGLY
pok1ng fun at each others attainments and
n nor
tfcuiar member of this scientific staff-a
man who Is renowned throughout the world
for the depth of his learning and his re-
n1arkable researches in his specialty-sit-
tlng back In his shirt sleeves in tip-tilted
chair, smoking short and very disreputa-
Die bieafwood pipe, ITO understand how thor
oughly compatible science is with what
might be called humanness
The scientists at the institution ga: a
good deal of fun out of letters that come
to them from all parts of the country Not
tonS since woman out in Illinois wrote to
the institution that she had six toes on
each OF her feet, and that she would be
glad to place herself on exhibition in The
institution for pretty stiff figure, which
she stipulated. She was politely informed
that the institution was not hunting for
live human exhibits. Then there are al
legged fossil finders all over the country who
write requesting that their expenses be paid
Tor the trip to Washington, in order that
they may bring their fossils along with
e
their modest requests are not acceded to.
Their fossils generally belong to species de-
eidedly not extinct. Again, scattered
throughout the country are many people
who come into possession of collections
that they suppose to be valuable, and these
write to the Smithsonian Institution with
the view to making a dicker. For exam
pie, not long ago a Massachusetts, woman
wrote to the institution, stating that her
father, a retired sea captain, had recently
died, leaving her nothing much besides a
large collection OF curious shells, many Of
which, he had told her. were of ineSlima-
BILE value because there were no duplicates
of them in any known collection. She was
poor, she said, and she wanted to transfer
the collection of shells to the Smithsonian
Institution for a consideration which she
named-a pretty siZable consideration The
institution did not send a man up that way
for the single purpose of examining this
Gently happened to get near to the town
from which the letter was written went
over to look it over, and he wrote the IN
stiutinn efart that there wasn't q
shell or conch in the array that wasn't a
ready on file in the institutions exhibit OF
that sort.
Pathos occasionally creeps into these let
tors to the institution. A few months ago
Prof Langley received a letter from poor
woman whose mind had apparently been
unseated by the death of her child. The
woman stated that she had pair of the
little ones shoes which she considered very
valuable and she thought the Smithsonian
on exhibition There was a. good deal of
sIlperf1uuus coughing and nose blowing
among the scientists when that poor scrafWl
was handed around. and Prof. Langley s
autograph reply to the letter is said to have
been a nice thing to read