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Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

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Expeditions to New Guinea <strong>and</strong> the Solomon Isl<strong>and</strong>s 49<br />

Fig.2.3. Ernst Mayr, 1927, a few months before leaving Germany for New Guinea (Archive,<br />

Museum of Natural History Berlin, Orn. 103, 1)<br />

on an expedition. Plans of travels to Cameroon (with the ethnographer Günther<br />

Tessmann) or toPeru (with thegeologist Harvey Bassler) failed.At theInternational<br />

Zoological Congress in Budapest (October 1927), Stresemann introduced Ernst<br />

Mayr to Lord Walter Rothschild <strong>and</strong> Ernst Hartert <strong>and</strong> convinced them that he<br />

would be the best man to continue A.F. Eichhorn’s work in New Guinea (this<br />

collector for Lord Rothschild had retired owing to illness).<br />

This was going to be Mayr’s great chance. He was 23 years old now (Fig. 2.3).<br />

Back to Berlin he wrote to E. Hartert on 22 October 1927 (transl.):<br />

Dear Dr. Hartert!<br />

You can hardly imagine how overjoyed I was by your <strong>and</strong> Lord Rothschild’s<br />

assent. For years it has been my loftiest goal some time to be able to conduct<br />

a scientific expedition <strong>and</strong> to become acquainted with those birds in life whose

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