The awareness of the need to protect endangered species has grown widely in the past few decades. The decimation of species throughout the world due to both natural and man-made conditions has pushed many species to the brink of extinction. While there are many efforts underway to protect and revive the species on the endangered list today, the struggle of many species to survive is still uncertain. This week's book of the week, Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States (1980), published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, outlines some of the species that were facing this battle for survival thirty years ago.

For this week's post, we highlight three of the species listed as endangered in this publication, and provide an update about the species' current status. A link to the Encyclopedia of Life entry for each species is also included, so feel free to dig a little deeper into each of these unique, threatened, and resilient creatures.

The Red Wolf (Canis rufus)

The Red Wolf was listed as Federally endangered on October 3, 1970 in the states of Delaware, Missouri, Mississippi and Texas. It was threatened due to predator control programs and federal, state, and local bounty hunter activity in these regions, as this species was seen to be a threat to livestock in these areas.

Current Status: In an effort to protect this species, "fourteen remaining red wolves were placed in a captive-breeding facility; they have become the founders of the present red wolf population. Currently, 200+ red wolves exist, and reintroductions are occurring in a few areas, including North Carolina and the Great Smoky Mountains."

The Red Wolf in EOL.
The Red Wolf in this week's Book of the Week.

The Whooping Crane (Grus americana)

The Whooping Crane was listed as Federally endangered on March 11, 1967 in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas. The species' survival was put to the test due to a reduction in breeding and wintering habitats as a result of drainage, agriculture, the Gulf of Intracoastal Waterway, and human settlements. As this week's book of the week points out, "Whooping cranes avoid areas of human disturbance even if the habitat is otherwise suitable." In 1977, there were only 75 whooping cranes in the wild and 27 in captivity.

Current Status: With the rescue efforts that began in 1968, the number of whooping cranes gradually increased to 96 in 1995. There are now two populations in the wild.

The Whooping Crane in EOL.
The Whooping Crane in this week's Book of the Week.

The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis)

The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker was listed as Federally endangered on October 13, 1970 in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. This species, according to
Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States, was endangered as a result of a decrease in the quantity and quality of a suitable habitat, primarily due to short-term-rotation timber management. The practice of short-term-rotation timber management "prevents the development of mature, diseased pine trees" which are necessary for this species' roosting and nesting.

Current Status: While there have been two recovery plans written to restore this population, the first, established in 1979, was never acted upon, and the second, established in 1985, has been criticised, though not revised, and no other plan has been written. "Recently, however, new approaches to conservation including old cavity restoration, artificial cavity construction, and the introduction of females into isolated groups, have made some positive advancments towards the increase in populations. The total population is now estimated at about 7,500 individuals."

The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker in EOL.
The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker in this week's Book of the Week.

This week's book of the week, Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States (1980), published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was contributed by the MBLWHOI library.

The United Nations has been marking years for special observation since 1959. Since then, international relief agencies have rallied around Human Rights (1968), Apartheid (1978/79), Literacy (1994), and other issues that pose a global threat to sustained peace and prosperity. This year, the United Nations has named 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. The message is pretty simple. Individual lives are dependent on a healthy network of life. Human activity in the form of industry and commerce poses a threat to the health of that network. Coordinated human activity is necessary to reduce that threat.

The umbrella is wide. The International Year of Biodiversity covers issues ranging from endangered species to the discovery of sustainable alternatives to fuels and energy production. Activities, reports, and inspiration from a wide variety of local and international groups are available through the IYB website found here.
And become a fan of the official Facebook page here to participate in ongoing discussions and connect with others involved in facets of environmental protection that matter to you.

As you may know, BHL recently acquired tens of thousands additional titles by ingesting open access texts supplied by the Internet Archive. Read the original announcement here.

One title in particular stands out as one of those works that really highlights the passage of time, the evolution of scientific thought, and associative leaps we take for granted is Robert Lee Bates' 1923 investigation "The effects of cigar and cigarette smoking on certain psychological and physiological functions".

The author quantifies the effects smoking on the performance of daily tasks that require a variety of cognitive and physiological coordinations. I found the methods of the dart throwing sequence and the description of the darts used particularly interesting (made of wood, six inches long including the feathers). A smoker's word choice is also considered in free association studies. Do we repeat ourselves more after smoking? Does a non-smoker use more colorful language, favoring ornate description?
While we take for granted that smoking is toxic, we don't generally think of its effects on cognitive ability in the same way we would a shot of tequila. Should we? What makes a drug a drug? and if smoking interferes with hitting a bull's eye, what about sugar? For me, the BHL never ceases to provide an opportunity to consider and (re)evaluate our notions of scientific truth.

I won't give away all the fun and seemingly antiquated bits of scientific inquiry. But, suffice it to say, at the end of the day back in 1923, more study was needed.
:)
Enjoy.

The lure of Antarctica has been captivating humans for hundreds of years, centuries even before the discovery of such a landmass occurred. Discussions about the existence of such a place were proposed as early as the first century AD, when Ptolemy suggested that there must be a giant landmass to the south serving to counterbalance the mass of the giant northern lands (Europe, Asia and North Africa) and preserve symmetry in the world. Following such proclamations, maps constructed as early as the 1500s began portraying a giant continent in the mysterious southern reaches of the globe. However, while belief in the existence of this southern continent permeated antiquity, it was not until the 1800s that confirmation of such a place actually occurred.

The famed Captain James Cook came within seventy-five miles of the illusive landmass in January 1773 before he was forced to abandon the effort in the face of the water's icy threats to his vessels. Later, remarking upon his failure to sight the fabled continent, Cook wrote,
"The risque one runs in exploring a coast, in these unknown and icy seas, is so very great that no man will ever venture further than I have done."
Fortunately, for history's sake, Cook was proven wrong some fifty years later, when the first confirmed sightings of Antarctica occurred. History narrows the first sighting, in 1820, down to three possible candidates: Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen of the Russian Imperial Navy, Edward Bransfield of the Royal Navy, and Nathaniel Palmer, an American sealer. Though somewhat disputed, the first documented landing on Antarctica occurred on February 7, 1821, when the American sealer John Davis set foot on West Antarctica.

Exploration of this great icy land, and conflicting territorial claims, have continued for the nearly two centuries since the confirmed discovery of Antarctica, but many are soon to forget that early extensive interaction with this frozen wasteland cannot be accredited to scientists and the great naval powers of the world, but to sealers who flocked to the "South Shetland Islands," as they called them, to collect fur seal pelts. This week's book of the week, The Voyage of the Huron and the Huntress: The American Sealers and the Discovery of the Continent of Antarctica, documents the extraordinary daring of these early seamen, and their contributions to the scientific knowledge since amassed. As the text so eloquently expresses:

"On this fringe of Antarctic seas, [the sealers] established camp and rendezvous, sailing through the ice-filled channels and along the rocky shores of the desolate islands...here they braved the unknown dangers of the icy, uncharted waters to the south, becoming the first among men to sight, recognize and land where rise the snowy mountains of the last great continent - Antarctica."

This week's Book of the Week, The Voyage of the Huron and the Huntress: The American Sealers and the Discovery of the Continent of Antarctica (1955), was contributed by the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Apart from the morbid coincidence of dying in the same year--1895--there's not a whole lot binding these two scientific luminaries together. Minerals and volcanoes on one hand and entomology and horticulture on the other. But, the world is small and the sub-world of scientific publishing even smaller, so onward, ho!

In advance of the upcoming Book of the Week by American entomologist Charles Valentine Riley (our 6th degree as generously provided by Robin Everly, Botany-Horticultural librarian at Smithsonian Libraries), here's a brief primer on his contributions to biodiversity. His resume is long and includes improvements to the French wine industry as well as the citrus crops of the US. Chief among his pursuits was biological pest control. Just before industrial pesticides created their own large scale sets of woes, he was one of the first to successfully practice the introduction of natural predators to pests compromising crops near the end of the 19th century. In 1889, California citrus groves were resuscitated when Charles V. Riley took advantage of Rodolia Cardinalis' appetite for Icerya Purchasi. The vedalia beetle ate the cottony cushion scale who was eating the crops. Riley also figures prominently in the development of the USDA'S Entomological Commission and was the first curator of insects at the Smithsonian Institution. And tragically, his death at an early age was a result of a bicyle accident resulting in a fractured skull.

Click here for some info on organic farming without the use of pesticides! and here for bicycle safety tips!

With well over 35,000 titles to choose from, the BHL book of the week selection can sometimes be a daunting task. (Each title more thrilling than the last!) So this week, I decided to play a game with you to arrive at the next selection. We'll dig deep into the repository and maybe find a path to something unexpected. According to our most recent poll, Invertebrate Zoology beats out Botany by a nose as the most popular area of biodiversity research. So, because we need a 1st degree and a 6th degree, and it's cheating to have the one making the connections do the picking, I humbly ask for your participation to test my librarian's mettle. Please suggest (in the comments) an IZ scientist--or even a title--for me to connect with a Botanist's work or otherwise significant figure. Will it work? Will it be neat? I don't know. But even if I find the connections too obscure (no way!) to piece together, we'll all, at the very least, have the excitement of the journey to enjoy.

With the Thanksgiving Day holiday approaching this week, it seemed appropriate to dedicate this week's book of the week to the Thanksgiving holiday staple - the turkey. Thus, this week's book of the week, Turkey Raising by Harry Miles Lamon (1922), served as a practical guide for turkey farmers during the first quarter of the twentieth century.

The turkey's origin is thought to come from the pheasant, as turkeys are thought to have diverged from this line around eleven million years ago. One of the first animals domesticated in America, the bird has had an interesting history in this continent, which included the dedication of two religious festivals held each year by the Aztec people in Mexico to the species, use of the bird in sacred Mayan ceremonies, as well as a long history as a hunted bird of prey among the native peoples in this land.

The name "turkey" has several proposed origins. For instance, some insist that Christopher Columbus called the birds "tuka," which is the Tamil word for peacock, and that turkey is a derivative of this word. Others postulate that Luis de Torres, a physician sailing with Columbus, called the animal "tukki," which means "big bird" in Hebrew. Still others say that the North American Indian name for the birds was "firkee," and turkey is simply a long-standing mis-pronunciation of the name.

There is also some disagreement over where the tradition of eating a turkey at Thanksgiving emerged from. For instance, it is possible that the early settlers of the Mayflower, being influenced by the Northeastern American Indians in their search for food, began hunting this abundant fowl at the instruction of their Native American friends, and that a turkey was actually present at the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Other experts believe that the first use of the turkey in a Thanksgiving meal was actually at the celebration of the English Harvest Home Festival observed by the early colonists at Jamestown.

Regardless of the origin of the use of the turkey at Thanksgiving feasts, guides such as Lamon's Turkey Raising strived to serve as an uncomplicated, concise yet inclusive discussion of the art of turkey raising, and this example includes such information as the history and extent of the industry, guidelines for mating and showing turkeys, tips of egg incubation, marketing, and insect, disease and predatory animal control. One interesting source of information within the book is a breakdown of the prices paid to producers of turkeys from the years 1915-1920 in various areas of the country. For example, on Nov. 15, 1915 in Texas, turkey meat fetched 11.3 cents per pound, while the same date and year in Washington, D.C. demanded an 18 cents per pound price. Constrastingly, on November 15, 1920 in Texas, a pound of turkey meat was worth 25 cents, and in Washington it earned 38 cents per pound. The national average for a pound of turkey meat in 1915 was 14.8 cents, while it raised to 31.8 cents per pound by 1920.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, whether you do so with turkey, tofurkey, or some other food completely, consider taking a look at this interesting delve into the early history of turkey raising in the United States. Happy Thanksgiving!

This week's book of the week, Turkey Raising by Harry Miles Lamon (1922), was contributed by The University of California Digital Library.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is coming into a new era complete with a new look, new content, and new features. The first, most obvious, change will be the adoption of a new BLUE color scheme. Users will not be faced with the need to adapt to a new UI environment; we’re simply changing color as a way of marking BHL’s evolution. BHL is evolving in three distinct ways with regard to its content and features:

• The BHL collection has added over 21,000 new titles (that’s over 28,000 new volumes) as a result of ingesting open access texts scanned by Internet Archive, bringing the total collection (to date - 17 Nov 2009) to 69,000 volumes! Users will now have access to biodiversity related content from the major university and research institutions that have partnered with the Internet Archive such as the California Digital Library. By aggregating biodiversity literature into its collection from other sources, BHL is increasing its ability to serve as a definitive resource for access to the world’s biodiversity literature.


• New links to documentation and user tutorials are being added. These links are part of a new website (actually a wiki) dedicated to providing users with more information about the BHL project overall, its history, member institutions, and developments for the future. Still in its early stages of development, the new wiki will serve as a one-stop-shop for communication about the BHL collection, as well as its tools and services.


• BHL taxonomic name data now have direct links to Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) pages via a new EOL icon, such as this page on the Orca, Orcinus orca, online at http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7869924. When viewing the “Names on this page” panel in the BHL Portal, an EOL icon will appear next to the taxon or binomial linking to the corresponding page on the EOL website. Users will be merely a click away to EOL content!

The new content and features are just the beginning of BHL evolutionary adaptations to come. As a digital library organism within its WWW environment, it is sensitive to the changing needs of its users. Whether mutating from brown to blue or doubling its collection, or undergoing small incremental changes with the development of its new wiki for documentation and user tutorials, the BHL will work to serve its users through the exciting new eras to come. Let us know what you think.

--Bianca Lipscomb
Collections Coordinator

In the history of scientific serials, every now and then out of the great list of titles emerges a singular work from an organization of scientists or a society. Records show that the Brooklyn Conchological Club published only a single volume - Volume 1, Number 1 (1907) - of the Bulletin of the Brooklyn Conchological Club.

The volume is 14 pages in length, has seven pen and ink figures and seven short articles, which are: "Abnormal Shells," by S.C. Wheat; "A New Varietal Form of Turbo Petholatus," by Maxwell Smith; "Shells in City Gardens and Ponds," by S.C. Wheat; "Phorus Conchyliophora," by F.W. Weaver; "List of Long Island Shell," by S.C. Wheat; "Shall we have an American Conchological Society" and "Memorandum of Suggestions for the Organization of a National Conchological Society," by Wm. H. Dall.

One order of business which was presented on page seven of this issue was reporting on the decision to change from the Brooklyn Conchological Club to the American Conchological Society, thereby taking a one time "section" of the Department of Natural History of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and looking towards creating a national society.

In the article entitled "Shells in the City Gardens and Ponds," Silas C. Wheat writes, "In my garden in the heart of Brooklyn are innumerable Vallonia pulchella Müller. I have taken 50 good specimens from a space four inches square. In midwinter 16 were found packed in a bit of hollow stem of a plant, the shells fitting snugly in the orifice, and all occupying a little more than an inch in length. In November I have found them active under a half inch of earth and snow. One of these beautiful creatures took its winter nap on the stem of a tropical tree in my window, where the sun blazed upon it for three hours every bright morning without once moving."

Records show that after this volume nothing else was published by the Club. As we study the history of scientific literature, we might remark that the above observational description would today sit very comfortably as a blog post, yet early scientific literature is often defined by simple, careful, and studious observations of organisms.

-Matt Person, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

This Week's Book of the Week, Bulletin of the Brooklyn Conchological Club, Volume 1, Number 1 (1907), was contributed by the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Living biodiversity may be the most common topic of discussion in most books found within BHL, but BHL also contains some gems discussing extinct animals as well. One such books is Palaeontology, or, A systematic summary of extinct animals and their geological relations (1860). This important work was written by Sir Richard Owen, an English botanist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist.

Owen is credited with coining the phrase 'Dinosauria,' meaning 'Terrible Reptile' or 'Fearfully Great Reptile.' Furthermore, he is well remembered for his opposition to Charles Darwin's evolution by natural selection. While agreeing that evolution did, in fact, occur, Owen purported that it was much more complex than the discussion of natural selection presented by Darwin in Origin of Species. Furthermore, he is well remembered for his distinctive contribution to the establishment of the British Museum of Natural History in London in 1881.

Among the thorough discussion of extinct animals from various kingdoms, Owen's Palaeontology, or, A systematic summary of extinct animals and their geological relations contains geological studies of these various extinct animals, with an estimation of their appearance on earth based on their fossil occurrences in the strata of the earth. Drawing on his work in comparative anatomy, Owen explains that it is by comparing the forms and structures of existing plants and animals, and how these relate to function, to those discovered in fossil remains that an "idea of the food and habits of such species" can be obtained.

Take a look at this fascinating work on extinct creatures, ranging from Protozoa to Animalia and everything in between! The text is rich with highly detailed illustrations complementing the research presented by the author. Through detailed descriptions of the forms, structure, and proposed habits of such creatures, this work transports the reader back to a time when the Terrestrial Sloth, Mastodon, or even the famous Ichthyosaurus, among others, might well have walked (or swam, as the case may be) the earth.

Palaeontology, or, A Systematic Summary of Extinct Animals and their Geological Relations (1860), by Sir Richard Owen, was contributed by the Ernst Mayr Library at Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology.

Today's book of the week comes to us from an entomologist who also enjoyed a brief stint as a librarian. British beetles transferred from Curtis's British entomology by Edward Wesley Janson exemplifies intellectual collaboration within the entomological community during the 19th century, when bug-collecting enjoyed heightened popularity among the general public.

While serving as Curator of the Collections for the Entomological Society of London, Janson published British Beetles (not to be confused with these guys!) with the help of his elder colleague's intriguing illustrations. John Curtis was an English entomologist and illustrator who grew up drawing insects and pursuing entomological craft while apprenticing at a law office. His A guide to the arrangement of British insects, was an influential work with over 10,000 insect names. Click the image or the link below to view more about the book. Enjoy!

British beetles. Transferred from Curtis's British entomology. With descriptions by E.W. Janson. (1863) Contributed by the Smithsonian Institution.

Question: What's the oldest book in BHL?

Answer: [R]ogatu plurimo[rum] inopu[m] num[m]o[rum] egentiu[m] appotecas refuta[n]tiu[m] occasione illa, q[uia] necessaria ibide[m] ad corp[us] egru[m] specta[n]tia su[n]t cara simplicia et composita... also known as "Herbarius latinus"


Published in 1484, this Pre-Linnean text describes 150 plants and 96 medicines commonly found in apothecaries, and each plant description is accompanied by a detailed woodcut. The work is compiled from older sources, including classical, Arabic, and Medieval works, and contains Latin text, with the names of the herbs in both Latin and German. The popularity of the text resulted in the publication of ten reprints before 1499.

This important work was compiled by Peter Schöffer, an early German printer born in 1425 in Gernsheim, Germany. Studying in Paris, Schöffer spent his early career as a manuscript copyist, but he eventually became an apprentice to Johannes Gutenberg. In 1457, Schöffer went into business with Guternberg's moneylender, Johann Furst, establishing the printing firm Furst and Schöffer, after the foreclosure of the mortgage on Gutenberg's printing shop.

Peter Schöffer's famous works include the Latin Psalter (1457), Cicero's De officiis (1465), and our very own book of the week, "Herbarius latinus". Schöffer is attributed with such innovations as dating books, introducing the printer's device and Greek characters in print, and using colored inks in print. Eventually, after going in to business on his own, Schöffer restricted his publications to works involving theology, and civil and ecclesiastic law.

Schöffer's legacy still lives on today, beyond the bounds of the published arena. Schöffer's house was eventually turned into a brewery, from which the Schöfferhofer brand of German wheat beer originated. (Schöffer's portrait is used as a trademark for this beer). With such accomplishments as "Herbarius latinus" and his own German beer, what more could Schöffer have hoped to leave behind him for remembrance in the new millenium?

To view this week's book of the week, [R]ogatu plurimo[rum] inopu[m] num[m]o[rum] egentiu[m] appotecas refuta[n]tiu[m] occasione illa, q[uia] necessaria ibide[m] ad corp[us] egru[m] specta[n]tia su[n]t cara simplicia et composita (1484), contributed by the Missouri Botanical Garden, click here.

With the month of September having drawn to a close, and the cooler weather descending upon us (yes, even here in San Francisco), it seems a fitting time to draw attention to the contributions of Jean-François Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse and his remarkable (and ill-fated) Pacific voyage. Because it was 223 years ago last month that La Pérouse landed his first French expedition to California, a trip that led to the first published account and image of the California Quail, our state bird since 1931.

Although the report of La Pérouse's voyage is title Voyage de La Pérouse autour du Monde, he did not circumvent the globe, but rather thoroughly explored the Pacific Ocean, landing in such places as Chile, Alaska, California, Macao, the Philippines, Siberia, the Russian possessions of Sakhalin and Kamchatka, Hawaii, Easter Island, and Australia. His expedition was sponsored by Louis XVI; the French were late to the game of Pacific exploration, following in the wake of voyages launched by Great Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, and the Portuguese.

La Pérouse commanded two frigates, L'Astrolabe and La Boussole, and travelled with a group of seventeen respected scientists, engineers, and naturalists, as well as top-of-the-line scientific instruments, and an impressive natural history library. He had an incredible amount of resources and support, yet he launched from Brest in northwestern France on August 1, 1785 and never saw France again.

In California, La Pérouse said of our little birds that he saw them in coveys of 300-400, and that they were fat and delicious. Here in San Francisco, many of us have grown quite protective of Callipepla californica. A bird once seen in great numbers in Golden Gate Park, it is estimated that the California Quail population in the Park had plummeted from over 1,200 birds at the turn of the century to fewer than 15 individuals in 1999. For most of the last decade, there have been focused efforts to bring the quail back to Golden Gate Park, by restoring habitat and building an understanding of the plight of our little bird. If you're lucky, you might see or hear California Quail here in the Park again; they are definitely making a comeback.

La Pérouse was not so fortunate, as he, his ships, and his crew were lost after leaving Botany Bay in Australia in March 1788. Miraculously, La Pérouse gave his journal of the voyage to date, as well as some scientific research to the crew member who had served as a Russian translator, Baron Jean Baptiste Barthelmy de Lesseps, who disembarked in Kamchatka. He travelled over land back to Paris, and the material be brought back was published at the expense of the French Republic, with the first volume appearing in 1797.

-Rebecca Morin, California Academy of Sciences

To view this week's Book of the Week, Voyage de La Pérouse autour du Monde (1797), contributed by the Missouri Botanical Garden, click here.

Timothy Abbott Conrad (1803-1877) enjoyed a remarkable career, and, although he is best known as an American geologist, malacologist, and carcinologist, he began his professional career as a clerk in his father's printing and publishing house. It was not until 1831, also the year in which Conrad was elected a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, that he published his first volume, American Marine Conchology, or Descriptions and Colored Figures of the Shells of the Atlantic Coast (several plates from which are pictured here). Intending with this volume to "supply a deficiency which [had] long been felt by the cultivators of American natural history," this volume contains seventeen plates, all illustrated by Conrad and hand colored by his sister, that depict the abundance and variation of the shells found along America's coastline.

Conrad died on August 9, 1877, in Trenton, New Jersey. His death, according to Popular Science Monthly (volume 47, 1895), marked the passing of "the last of the prominent group of early Philadelphia naturalists, who paved the way for the more philosophical biologists of the present day."

To view this week's book of the week, American Marine Conchology, or Descriptions and Colored Figures of the Shells of the Atlantic Coast (1831), by Thomas Abbott Conrad, contributed by the Smithsonian Institution, click here.

A few weeks ago, we asked you what kind of posts you'd like to see more of here on the BHL blog. The landslide victor--with 9 votes!--is more posts about how researchers are currently using the resources available through BHL. So, meet Kevin de Queiroz. He's a Research Zoologist working in the Smithsonian’s' Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Amphibians and Reptiles Division. His current research centers on the phylogenetic relationships of various groups of lizards. He's also interested in the development of the theory and practice of phylogenetic nomenclature (an approach to naming based on evolutionary principles); moreover, he's the co-originator of the somewhat controversial PhyloCode. He uses BHL extensively both towards his own research involving the PhyloCode (among other research interests) as well as while editing/reviewing works submitted by other authors that are part of other projects.

Much of Dr. de Queiroz’ research requires access to the historical use of names. BHL provides that access which would have taken countless trips to research centers in multiple locations around the globe. As Dr. de Queiroz demonstrates, universal access to the wealth of knowledge housed in BHL has greatly enhanced scientists' and researchers' abilities to conduct their work from anywhere on the planet (on this side of the digital divide, anyway).

Kevin de Queiroz: Publications

Can you return from a trip to the beach without something in your pocket? Whether gathering food, collecting shells, or simply plucking a pretty rock from the surf while strolling on the sand, beachcombing seems like a universal practice, and one at least as old as bipedalism (and pockets).

As it turns out, ambling along the beach, collecting shells, and observing tidepool life are not the ageless pastimes one might assume. It was not until the mid-19th century that these practices became widespread (at least in England and the United States). This surge in popularity was largely the result of the works of Philip Henry Gosse, particularly in his 1853 work, A Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast.

Philip Henry Gosse was a talented naturalist and gifted illustrator. He corresponded with Charles Darwin, and was a best-selling author. As a young man, he travelled in Canada, the United States, and Jamaica, where he collected, drew, and wrote about many of the organisms he encountered, including insects, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. When he returned to his native England, he devoted himself to studying, sketching, and describing the shore-dwelling creatures he observed hear his home in South Devon. His books about the local sea stars, anemones, crustaceans, and their ilk made Gosse famous, and they made England sit up and notice the vast array of sea life crawling on her shores.

Gosse was disappointed with the quality of the lithographs in A Naturalist's Rambles, but even so, their level of detail and realism is astounding. In the introduction, Gosse implores his readers to be more than "idle pleasure-seekers" at the beach, and to observe that "[m]ost curious and interesting animals are dwelling within a few yards of your feet." In fact, these seashore creatures were so unknown to most people at the time that Gosse's critics accused him of inventing them to sell more books.

A Naturalist's Rambles is a fascinating work in that Gosse managed to skillfully combine his precise, scientific observations with engaging narratives about animals in the wild, their habits, and his practice of collecting subjects for further study in his home aquarium. He also includes prayers, poetry, and an interesting epitaph he found during his rambles. Gosse's book was so inspiring that it prompted crazes for seashore collecting and home aquarium-keeping, which he further discussed in his book The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea.

Later in life, Gosse felt personally responsible for the destruction visited upon his nation's beaches by unscrupulous home aquarists and shell-hunters. One need only read his books to experience the wonder and reverence he felt for his native shores and the diversity of the creatures he found there.

-Rebecca Morin, California Academy of Sciences

This week's book of the week, A Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast by Philip Henry Gosse (1853), was contributed by the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Library.

The dream of making biodiversity information freely available to people around the world is an ambitious goal embraced by many in the scientific community, and it represents the mission behind both the Biodiversity Heritage Library and the Encyclopedia of Life (www.eol.com), of which BHL is a cornerstone institution. While the Biodiversity Heritage Library strives to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in the collections of the participating and contributing institutions, the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) was established "to make comprehensive, authenticated information about the world's biodiversity freely available over the Internet," and comprises a website hosting more than 160,000 authenticated species pages and 1.4 million base pages.

Recently, EOL announced their intention to employ a thematic approach to the aggregation of content for species pages, with a current focus on marine biodiversity. By 2013, EOL hopes to have comprehensive species pages on at least 90% of named marine species.

The wealth of marine biodiversity information can also be seen in the collection of BHL, with the subject headings of marine animals, fishes, Crustacea, and Mollusks comprising over 1300 titles in BHL. This week's book of the week, Bulletin of the United States National Museum, no. 246 (1966), highlights the diversity of living whales throughout the world's oceans, ranging from the charismatic Bottlenose Dolphin to such well-known icons as Orca whales. With the wealth of marine information available on EOL species pages, it would be a shame not to relate a few of the whale species covered in this volume to their corresponding species pages in EOL, and thus below are a few select species listed with links to their EOL pages and species page within this week's book of the week. And, while it is impossible to highlight all of the whale species covered in this volume in a short blog post with references to EOL and its plethora of further information and images related to these species, we hope you will take the time to explore these creatures both within this text and on EOL. Enjoy!

Orcinus orca (Orca): view in EOL and this week's Book of the Week
Stenella clymene (Clymene Dolphin): view in EOL and this week's Book of the Week
Eubalaena australis (Southern Right Whale): view in EOL and this week's Book of the Week
Lagenodelphis hosei (Fraser's Dolphin): view in EOL and this week's Book of the Week

This week's Book of the Week, Bulletin of the United States National Museum, no. 246 (1966), was contributed by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.

(Please keep in mind that the EOL pages have not yet harvested all of the available BHL bibliographic references, and thus the BHL Summary found on the EOL species pages may not fully encompass all BHL titles that mention these species.)

Pierre Belon was one of the first great explorer-naturalists, blazing a trail that would be followed by such luminaries as Damphier, Catesby, Humbolt, and Darwin. He is one of the foremost figures in the world of comparative anatomy, issuing some of the earliest works on homology. His Histoire Naturelle des Estranges Poissons Marins, published in 1551, is the first printed work devoted to fish (although it must be noted that Belon included such aquatic non-fish as the dolphin and hippopotamus). The work is notable for its beautiful woodcut illustrations and Belon's accurate anatomical descriptions, many of which were based on his own dissections. His description and image of a cetacean fetus in utero is considered the first example of the science of embryology.

-Rebecca Morin, California Academy of Sciences

This week's book of the week, L'Histoire Naturelle des Estranges Poissons Marins, avec la Vraie Peincture & Description du Daulphin, & de Plusieurs Autres de Son Espece, by Pierre Belon (1551), was contributed by the Ernst Mayr Library, Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

While selecting books for scanning, The New York Botanical Garden's LuEsther T. Mertz Library will often find treasure in between the pages of centuries-old tomes: pressed leaves and flowers, interesting or revealing marginalia, bookmarks, personal notes, and, yes, even cash.

Its collection overlaps with other BHL members, and contributing institutions often hold runs of the same journal, though not every copy is the same. An interesting example of this is the Mertz Library's copy of Journal de botanique appliquée à l'agriculture à la pharmacie, à la médecine et aux arts(t.3, no. 3-5, - t.4, no.1-2 1814).

This issue contains an important bibliographic anomaly discovered by J.H. Barnhart, which can be found on pages 193-240. The section did not appear in copies available, for example, at the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University, until the early 1930s - an omission noted in a 1934 letter from B.L. Robinson, Harvard, to E.D. Merrill, who served as director of NYBG from 1929 to 1935.

The letter itself was tipped in to the volume by the Garden's Library staff and was scanned intact for BHL (see the "third" text page).

B.L. Robinson wrote, in part:

"It is clear that this hitherto unknown part of the Journal is likely to have nomenclatorial significance in connection with several genera, and I am truly delighted to have a copy of it in our library. In our set, curiously enough, the pages in question had been replaced by pages of the same numbering taken for another volume of the Journal, so that these pages occurred in our set in duplicate, an error in binding already detected, though we had never known about these later published pages of which you send us a copy."

The letter also offers a glimpse into scholarly cooperation and collaboration from that period. Today B.L. Robinson would have been able to look online for the missing pages, as this journal issue - and his letter - are now available in BHL.

It's not a five-dollar bill, but, alas, an interesting discovery.

-Kevin Nolan, New York Botanical Garden

This week's book of the week, Journal de botanique appliquée à l'agriculture, à la pharmacie, à la médecine et aux art, t.3 no. 3-5 - t.4 no. 1-2 (1814), was contributed by The New York Botanical Garden's LuEsther T. Mertz Library.

This week's book of the week relates yet another milestone in the development of a classification system for life on earth. Cuvier's The Animal Kingdom, Arranged According to its Organization, Serving as a Foundation for the Natural History of Animals, was an attempt to classify the animal kingdom on the basis of comparative anatomy, of which Cuvier's entire classification schema was centered.
Cuvier was heavily influenced by Xavier Bichat, the "father of modern histology and pathology," and adapted the principle expounded by this naturalist that articulated two levels of natural existence: vie animale and vie organique. The first referred to an organism's relationship with the environment, including perception, voluntary movement, and sensibility. The second dealt with the faculties that upheld the "inner existence" of the organism, such as the respiratory system. This distinction differed from that purported by Linnaeus, which divided life into animal, vegetable, and mineral. Instead, Cuvier followed a conviction that divided natural objects into living (plant and animal) and non-living (mineral) existences. Cuvier's definition of life, influenced by the above mentioned distinction, was thus the ability to "resist for a certain time, the laws which govern inorganic bodies, and even to act on the environment in a way which is entirely contrary to those laws; we use the terms 'life' and 'vital force' to designate these apparent exceptions to the general laws of nature" ( Lecons d'Anatomie Comparée).
Thus, Cuvier's classification of life hinged on an understanding of the internal relationships among constituent parts of an organism that produced life, which in turn was involved in constant conflict with the laws of chemistry and physics that attempted to break it apart. Using these principles, Cuvier established a taxonomic approach based on comparative anatomy that established correlations between the inner systems that maintained life within an organism. While this approach worked well for the formation of higher-level classification schemes, such as at the order level, it did not translate as well to lower groups where the internal system functions did not differ much from organism to organism. Nevertheless, Cuvier is remembered as an important naturalist who attempted to understand and establish a system on which to build the study of nature and life.


This week's book of the week, The Animal Kingdom, Arranged According to its Organization, Serving as a Foundation for the Natural History of Animals : And an Introduction to Comparative Anatomy, by Georges Cuvier (1834), volume 3 (plates), was contributed by the Natural History Museum, London.

Taxonomic literature can be divided into Pre-Linnaean and Post-Linnaean literature, with Post-Linnaean literature being those works published after Carl Linnaeus developed his famous naming and classification schema, binomial nomenclature. This week's book of the week, Historia Vermium, is an interesting example of a Pre-Linnaean text. The Smithsonian's copy, pictured here, is one of only two copies in the Western Hemisphere, according to OCLC, and one of only twelve in the world. The author, Joachim Jung, was known chiefly as a mathematician and astronomer, being considered on par with the likes of Galileo. He also focused many of his studies on natural history, particularly in the realm of botany. Historia Vermium, like many of Jung's works, was published posthumously.
Jung is significant when exploring the development of the Linnaean taxonomic system because, first in his botany works and later in additional works, such as Historia Vermium, he introduced a classification system that was based upon a genera and species naming schema. In fact, Jung created a naming terminology that was later perfected by Linnaeus in his binomial nomenclature. To classify and group species, Jung attempted to understand the analogies between the organs and anatomical features of the species he studied, rather than focusing on some of the more surface-related features that other scientists of his time were focused on (To learn more about Joachim Jung, click here).
Building on the important studies done by Jung and other scientists, Linnaeus would later introduce one of the most significant contributions to the study of like on earth at that time: binomial nomenclature. Although the Linnaeus system has been modified over time to reflect the theory of evolution, it is still remembered as the building block upon which taxonomy was founded.

To view this week's book of the week, Historia Vermium, (1691) by Joachim Jung, contributed by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, click here.

This week, we highlight the botanical illustrations of Georg Dionysius Ehret. Active during the 18th century, his illustrations became the must-have accompaniment for scientists interested in precise rendering of the species at hand. Born into a modest family of gardeners, his achievements (as they so often do) result from a combination of talent and circumstance.
Carl Linneaus was one of his first collaborative partners, who almost certainly helped shape Ehret's attention to botanical detail. "For instance, the botanist criticized the artist for failing to include items like the stamen, pistil and other small details, which Ehret argued, would spoil the illustration. In the end Ehret gave in. In fact he became so fond of detailing that this viewpoint became a trademark of his illustrations from then on."

Plate from Missouri Botanical Garden's Plantae selectae quarum imagines ad exemplaria naturalia Londini 1750.