Image is of William H. Dall, curator of echinoderms for the United States National Museum, now known as the National Museum of Natural History. Dean of Alaskan explorations, William Healey Dall , 1845-1927, began his scientific career as a member of the Scientific Corps of the Alaskan Western Union Telegraph Expedition in 1865. In 1871 he was appointed to the United States Coast Survey, where he continued his studies on Alaska and the northern Pacific Coast. Dall left the Coast Survey in 1884 to accept the rank of Paleontologist with the United States Geological Survey, a position he held until 1925. Having assembled and described some of the collections of mollusca and other organisms held by the United States National Museum since 1868, Dall served as Honorary Curator of the Museum's Division of Mollusks from 1880 until his death.