The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1924-02-14
WOMAN BIOLOGIST
CALLS WORK SPORT
Finds DeIving Into Stones
Fascinating as Gambling.


Cincinnati scientific achieve
ments recorded at the convention OF
the American Association for the Ao-
vancement of Science are mot limited
entirely to men. Out of group OF
women who recently read papers, the
most conspicuous independent research
has been done by Mrs. Charles y.
Walcott, wife of last years president
Of the association. Her work has been
'Sin two fields, geology, and botany
From rock strata high up in the Cana
dian Rockies she has hammered out
trilobites 100000 years old. Some
Of these stony remnants Of early NE
showed organs still intact.
sIts the greatest sport in world"
she said. 1.-THE luck Of a gambler Is
no more uncertain than the luck OF
geologist. You crack 20 rocks and
then perhaps in the twenty-frst you
find marvellous specimen. l am
good collector of trilopites, for ] have
sharp eyes,"
Not Trained GeoIogist.
Mrs. Walcott is not trained geolo-
gist. but having been up in the noun
tains Is times with her husband, the
discoverer of fossil life in the Cam
brian range, Nshe has taken an active
part in his research work. With
"Jonah9 and Little Jonah their geo.
logical hammers, they have contributed
valuable specimens to the world of
science.
TITS not exactly what you might call
woman's life," Mrs. Walcott ex-
planned. 'But I haye found 1t of ex-
traordinary interest We have set up
as many as 10 camps in four months
I know what it is to rise for break
fast at six in a tent pitched at an alti-
tude of 1000 feet. break up camp,
then ride on horseback all day through
rain with complete sketching kit
strapped to my saddle. We consider
Cricket, my husbands horse, very
clever geoIogist. When he decides to
stop at a. rock we usually find that his
instinct has been sound. We carry five
cameras with us and have is horses In
ALL"
But the geological research they car
nv on in the mountains is only one
phase of Mrs. Walcott's work. She
has developed form of botanical
study of her own. In addition to pho
tographing and tinting wild flowers
and plants as she finds them in their
native state, she does water color
sketches Of them-not conventional
lied, but botanically correct. Her
work has caused so much interest
| among botanists that the Smithsonian
institution expects to bring out book
with 500 Of these nature studies.
Finds Bare Orchids.
"My husbands field of exploration
| has given me excellent opportunities
to find rare and unusual plants" she
said.
Il have all the Alpine fora to work
on as well as the flowers that grow in
the valleys 1t is frequently difficult
/ to reach the specimens for close pho
tograpFy,. They may ~be growing on
| the fringe of a stream or right in the
4 middle Of a swamp. When it is windy
/ may have to wait hours to take my
picture until the plants stop swaying.
TN doing my water color sketches, /
have to work at high speed. The
blooms are apt to be very perishable
unless you happen to catch them at
the moment of their full perfection
1 Her rarest find was the cypripedium,
a little known orchid growing on the
Mexican border. Much of her work
has been done there. Because Of the
range of her husbands field Of re-
search, her selection is large and
varied. He has followed the Cambrian
formation from Mexico up to the Ca
madam Rockies, and her botanical
studies stretch over the same area
Mrs. Wolcott has made delicate
water color of spray taken from the
magnolia tree near the White House
4 door, which Mrs. Coolidge sent to her
not long ago. Doctor Walcott is sec
rotary of the Smithsonian institution
in Washington and his wife works
there with him every day.