Bibliography and Zoological Taxa of Paul Bartsch - Smithsonian ...

dermy shop that was run as an adjunct to the
furniture store. At home he found time to keep a
small menagerie, including several pet birds and
a tame raccoon. Thus, in his new home, the young
naturalist continued his active interest in nature.
Through his friendship with the principal of the
Burlington High School, he was tutored in English
so that he might gain admission to high school. At
this time he began seriously to collect birds and
prepare skins, and with two young friends organized
a natural-history club which entailed the formation
of a little museum and workshop in his
home.
In the rich and varied surroundings of Burlington—the
high bluffs, the sand hills, the luxuriant
bottom lands along the Mississippi—Paul Bartsch
observed nature and collected specimens during
early mornings before school began, on weekend
rambles, and through the long summer holidays.
Throughout his high school years he continued
adding to his collection of skins, which numbered
2,000 by the time he entered the University.
In the fall of 1893 he went to Iowa City to enter
the University of Iowa. Here his teachers included
the geologist Samuel Calvin, botanists Thomas H.
Macbride and Bohumil Shimek, and the zoologist
Charles C. Nutting. From these teachers, especially
from Calvin, Bartsch received kindly and invaluable
advice, and a solid foundation in the sciences.
With the large course load that he carried he still
had some time—but not much—for weekend walks
in the country with his bird-collecting gun. During
his college years he continued adding to his collection
of bird skins, and began building up a herbarium.
Not long after he entered he was given
the task of identifying a large collection of birds
stored in the attic of the Science Building.
In the summer of 1895 Bartsch and several companions
traveled by flatboat and canoe down the
Oneota River in northeastern Iowa and then down
the Mississippi to Burlington, collecting principally
the fossils found in the bluffs and banks along
these rivers. Through an arrangement with his
professors, Bartsch remained in Burlington during
the fall, making it the center for many camping
excursions for the purpose of collecting the plants
of that part of Iowa.
During the following spring term Bartsch was
informed that Dr. William H. Dall, at that time in
charge of the Department of Mollusks at the United
SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ZOOLOGY
States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution,
had written Professor Nutting to inquire if
he had a promising young man who might be
interested in coming to Washington, D.C., to serve
as his assistant. What an opportunity this was to
the 24-year-old Bartsch—to come to Washington,
where he might see and meet C. Hart Merriam,
Elliott Coues, Robert Ridgway, Leonard Stejneger,
Theodore N. Gill, G. Brown Goode, Tarleton H.
Bean, Frederick W. True—a "galaxy of demigods"
Bartsch called them, scientists whose publications
he respected greatly. Dall was an unknown name
to him, and of mollusks Bartsch knew very little,
but he hoped that once in Washington he might
be able to arrange a transfer and return to his first
love, ornithology.
After three days of considering the offer (Professor
Macbride had extended a very handsome counteroffer
to persuade him to remain in Iowa City),
Bartsch decided to apply for the position, and
Professor Nutting informed Dr. Dall of Bartsch's
decision.
In due time Bartsch received a letter from Secretary
Langley, dated April 9, 1896, informing him
that he had been appointed as Aid in the Department
of Mollusks at a salary of $50.00 a month, beginning
on April 16. Bartsch thus left the
university two months before the end of his junior
year, lacking only one-half a credit of completing
the course requirements for graduation. Nevertheless
that June he received the Bachelor of Science
degree, having completed his college course in
three years. In 1899 he obtained the Master of
Science degree from the University, his dissertation
being "The Birds of Iowa."
On April 16, 1896, young Paul Bartsch arrived
in Washington and presented himself at the old
Smithsonian Building. Here he was met by Charles
T. Simpson, Division Aid, and shown about the
Institution. After meeting Dr. Dall, Bartsch was
taken in hand by Simpson to locate lodgings. He
obtained a room on the third floor front, in the
home of a Mrs. Kenner on 13th Street, Southwest,
behind the old Agriculture Building, and a few
doors south of where Simpson lived, and arranged
to take his meals at Mrs. Legg's, also on 13th Street.
The Division of Mollusks was housed on the two
balconies at the eastern end of what is now the
Great Hall. Bartsch was given a desk on the south
balcony. His first duties consisted of carrying the