S. Stillman Berry on his 95th birthday, 16 March 1982.
English: Title: American malacological bulletin Identifier: americanmal1319831985amer (find matches) Year: 1983 (1980s) Authors: American Malacological Union Subjects: Mollusks; Mollusks Publisher: (Hattiesburg, Miss. ?) : (American Malacological Union) Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: 56 AMER. MALAC. BULL. 3(1) (1984) Text Appearing After Image: Figure 1. S. Stillman Berry on his 95th birthday, 16 March 1982, (Photo, Chuck Painter) him each morning. Wonderful conversational walks they were, punctuated with historical facts about old buildings we passed or comments about when Hoover was president or "that horrid FDR." I began to learn he had strong likes and dislikes! One of my objectives while visiting the museum was to try to establish which generic name had priority: Benthoteu- this Verrill, 1885, or Bathyteuthis Hoyle, 1885. I was de- lighted to be with such a helpful nomenclatural expert as Dr. Berry. Later, after I had worked everything out, I wrote to him with the details and the decision—Bathyteuthis Hoyle by a couple of months. He replied that he could accept my find- ings based on facts, but he would have "much preferred" it be Verrill's name for patriotic and linguistic reasons. During our discussions of Bathyteuthis I was alarmed to learn about "my (Stillman's) species from California waters," which was all described, illustrated and ready to be published. I was very interested to know the publishing details, of course, because I had a large series of the same species and wanted to refer to Berry's name and the correct citation without pre-publishing on him. As it turned out, he needed males, more illustrations, and typing. It became clear after later correspondence that Berry would not be able to publish within a reasonable time and that I would have to publish "his" species along with the rest of my Bathyteuthis work. My guilt was partially assuaged by naming the species Bath- yteuthis berryi. I think this rather pleased Stillman Berry because it both honored him and relieved him of the responsibility of having to get that description out (he was, after all, nearly 79 years old at this point). I understand from some malacologists older than I that in former times such a "threat" to a prospective Berry species would be met with instant publication in the Nautilus or Leaflets in Malacology. Samuel Stillman Berry was born in Unity, Maine, on March 16, 1887, his mother having returned from the family ranch in Montana for the delivery. Stillman was the second- born of twins, a surprise arrival who was so scrawny and weak-looking that he was placed on the windowsill so full attention could be paid to the robust, healthy-looking first- born twin brother. That icy March Maine windowsill probably did more for stimulating those first deep breaths than any midwife's slaps on the bottom ever could! At any rate, a doting aunt finally took notice of the waif, wrapped him up and did whatever they did to babies in 1887. Ironically, the robust baby died shortly after birth and Stillman, with the aid of a homemade incubator, survived. Stillman's early child- hood was a search for health during which time the very sickly child was moved from Maine to Montana, New York, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Santa Barbara, Pasadena, and finally, in 1897 when Stillman was 10 years old, to Redlands, a climate the doctor had insisted was the best in the country for the child. Something must have been right, as Stillman Berry remained in Redlands for the ensuing 87 years of his life. An incident when Stillman was three years old is worth retelling. The Berrys had learned about a famous physician in Minneapolis who was an expert at performing modern medi- cal procedures. Very anxious about their young son's health, the Berrys decided to engage the learned doctor. The doctor determined on the first visit that the little boy's adenoids had to come out, and no time like the present to perform this simple modern procedure. Without administering anesthesia, the doctor inserted a looped wire around the swollen ade- noids and yanked them out. We can understand why the tears welled in Stillman's eyes decades later in recalling one of his earliest childhood memories as he still felt the pain and saw the large, white porcelain bowl filling with his own blood. Stillman survived in spite of the operation and the massive loss of blood, but he had a hard time liking doctors for many years afterwards! Stillman Berry's early education was sporadic at best. Because of his poor health he was forced to miss much of his classroom schooling. In fact, he completed only three full years of elementary school. He kept up his lessons, with guidance and tutoring from his mother and aunt, to the extent that he was allowed to skip two grades. In Redlands High School, Stillman founded the Year Book and, not being able to participate himself, became an avid sports fan, an interest he carried throughout life. Immediately after graduating from high school in 1904, Stillman, his mother, and his favorite teacher sailed for Europe where they spent the next full year traveling from Scandinavia to Greece. This experience had a Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.