McNeely and all:
Most interesting. That's a great story about the kids. Whatever happened to
Clark? I wonder if he ever connected with Ed Ricketts? I don't remember
anything I've read about Ricketts mentioning him.
My wife, Rose Tyson, who was curator of physical anthropology at the Museum
of Man, had the Hubbs (midden) collection transferred to the University of
San Diego sometime around the turn of the millennium along with an inventory
done by her volunteer, Daniel Elerick. This collection was from several
archaeological sites along the Pacific coast, all the way to the tip of Baja
California Sur. I wonder if anyone has put together any kind of biography of
Hubbs? These kinds of stories help bring these folks to life for future
generations. My wife did a physical anthropology paper on a burial from this
collection, and Charles Merbs did one on the pathologies. Who knows what
treasures the collection might hold for future generations?
I liked Hubbs right away. He was all business; no pretensions. He took you
at face value. I just recalled one story he told me--Hubbs was hiking
northward in the mountains of Japan with a guide. In the midst of the
wilderness, they came to a sign. He asked for a translation. The guide said,
"Sign say 'This spot most north where Camellia grow.'" He told me other
stories about his visits with the Emperor, but I have forgotten them. His
family has probably written them down or remembers them. Hubbs' wife, an
M.D. herself, I believe, also helped Hubbs by laying out his manuscripts on
a large table so he could work on several at one time. My wife, too, has
been an enormous help to me over the last 39 or 40 years; I would not be
whatever I am without her, though I don't blame her for what I am not.
I hope others will post stories about Hubbs and other highly accomplished
students of natural history and other sciences. I have an audiotape of
Margaret Mead and Fred Singer that I made in 1972. I wish I could remember
more. G. Ledyard Stebbins let me videotape him in a darkened motel room in
Sacramento many years ago--I should have the tape somewhere if it hasn't
fallen apart. I also videotaped one of this lectures to the local Chapter of
the CNPS. There was another one out of a very similar rock from which Hubbs
was chiseled, and he had stories about others, generations before his time.
I can't remember the names of the characters, but one Stebbins liked to tell
was about an early lady botanist (and, I believe, M.D.) and a very proper
Victorian era gentleman scientist who were out on an expedition (strictly
scientific, mind you) by horse-drawn buggy in California when the lady
espied an aquatic plant she wanted to press. The gentleman removed his shoes
and rolled up his pants to retrieve the specimen, but found that the water
was too deep. He said something like, "I fear I shall not be able to collect
the specimen, dear lady." "Take off your pants," said she. "Oh, I COULDN'T,"
said he. "Take them off," said she, "I've AUTOPSIED better men than you!" I
hope someone can identify these characters--they were quite well-known.
WT
I realize that I made some errors in my last post. I have added text in
(parentheses). There may still be others.
----- Original Message -----
From: <mcnee...@cox.net>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>; "Wayne Tyson" <landr...@cox.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 5:46 PM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] David Starr Jordan Indiana U Re: [ECOLOG-L] Jordan's
rule Folkloric Tangent
Hubbs kept an "academic geneology" showing the descendents of his students.
So, when I published my first paper after starting work on my Ph.D., I got a
note from him, as part of a reprint request. He had sketched my "academic
geneology" on the card. Probably a majority of ichthyologists and fish
ecologists in North America are descended from David Starr Jordan, mostly
through Carl Hubbs or Robert Rush Miller or both. Clark Hubbs told me that
when the two families went into the field together, the kids got paid for
new species and extra for new genera of fishes they helped to collect.
Since they were working the American Southwest and northern Mexico in the
thirties, there were lots to be had.
David McNeely
---- Wayne Tyson <landr...@cox.net> wrote:
McNeely and all:
Thanks for this; it hits close to home, if only a ricochet. Fond (but
faded) memories of my main contact with Hubbs. A bunch of locals were
asked to evaluate the site of the coming Wild Animal Park of the San Diego
zoo (now called the San Diego Zoo "Safari Park.") I had a 1968 Ford
Bronco, and somehow it turned out that Hubbs rode with me as we drove all
over the property. The date must have been in the early '70's. I was
astounded at his breadth of knowledge. He identified a few scraps of
bivalve shell a few hundred feet away, so practiced was his eye. My wife
used his work on Mytilus sp. in her midden research in Baja California.
Hubbs hair was jet black. Only his hairdresser would know for sure, but I
doubt he had one.
Ian Player had been consulted and had recommended a network of "tunnels"
be incorporated into the large acreages where several species were to roam
"free." Both Hubbs and I thought it was a helluva good idea, and we
(together with several people from the San Diego Natural History Museum
(including Helen Witham/Chamlee), based our report on the assumption that
Player's idea would be accepted. I incorporated a complimentary idea to
create "islands" of vegetation that would be staggered across the slopes
to trap silt from the inevitable erosion, enclosed with moveable barriers
(elephant- and rhino-resistant) that would have vegetation that could be
trampled and eaten and serve as shade and cover for smaller animals, both
free and captive. (These were to be rotated at different times.)
We prepared an extensive report, but we (or at least I) weren't permitted
to present it in person or to answer questions. The Zoo director (Charles
Schroder, if I remember correctly) rejected the idea(s) (Player's and our)
and opted instead for a monorail, a much more expensive option. Every time
there is a fuss about the erosion problem it's all I can do to tell 'em I
told 'em so. The rumor was that Schroder was a real dictator. Years later,
when I told an astounded if not enraged Chuck Faust the story, he wanted
to see a copy of the report, but I hadn't kept one.
Hubbs had a great secretary, Betty Shor, who organized all his
publications and kept meticulous records, all neatly filed away in banks
of wooden pigeonholes. Hubbs died later in the seventies, in his eighties,
but when I saw him, even on one or two occasions after our trip. If you
requested a reprint, you might be reminded that you had requested the same
reprint several years past.
I'll share a story (as best I can remember it) about Jordan, told by Ray
Gilmore (at the time curator of marine mammals for the (San Diego) Natural
History Museum). Jordan and a colleague were walking across campus one day
when a student asked Dr. Jordan a question, which, upon answering, Jordan
asked the student's name. Jordan's colleague asked him why he didn't
remember his student's names. Jordan replied, "Every time I remember the
name of a student, I forget the name of a fish!"
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "David L. McNeely" <mcnee...@cox.net>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] David Starr Jordan Indiana U Re: [ECOLOG-L]
Jordan's rule
Why do people keep posting things that seem as if the matter is a bit
equivocal. It is not. "Jordan's Rule" refers to David Starr Jordan's
work with meristic features of fishes. It was almost certainly so named
by his star student, Carl Hubbs. The references I posted earlier should
clear the matter up for those for whom it is not clear (it is clear to
me), and if pursued, likely would definitively answer the original
question in favor of Carl Hubbs. That original question was not for whom
was the rule named, but by whom was the term coined.
David McNeely
---- Susan Kephart <skeph...@willamette.edu> wrote:
> The last few posts all lead to the same path.. I"m not an expert on all
> Jordan's accomplishments as I work w. plants, but Indiana University
> should have quite a digest on him since that's where he worked for many
> years. One of the biology buildings there is named after him
>
> S
>
> On Aug 29, 2012, at 8:02 AM, Chava Weitzman wrote:
>
> > How about this one: Jordan, D.S. (1892) Relations of temperature to
> > vertebrae among fishes. Proceedings of the United States National
> > Museum,
> > 1891, 107–120.
> >
> > Cited in:
> > R. M. McDowall. 2007. Jordan’s and other ecogeographical rules, and
> > the
> > vertebral number in fishes. Journal of Biogeography.
> > http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2007.01823.x/full
> > Chava
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 7:25 AM, Jan Ygberg <jygb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Dear all
> >>
> >> Maybe this one? :
> >>
> >>
> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_algebra
> >>
> >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascual_Jordan
> >>
> >> Cheers
> >>
> >>
> >> Jan H. N. Ygberg
> >> Public Relations
> >> Resident Naturalists Programme Coordinator
> >>
> >> EXPLORER'S INN
> >> in the
> >> TAMBOPATA NATIONAL RESERVE
> >> A PERUVIAN SAFARIS ECO LODGE – A LODGE WITH A DIFFERENCE
> >> Since 1976 A SHOWCASE OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST
> >> Peruvian Safaris S.A
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> >> Web Site: http://www.explorersinn.com
> >> Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/explorerslodge
> >> Twitter: @explorersinn
> >>
> >> 2012/8/28 Philippe Golay <g...@geneva-link.ch>
> >>
> >>> Dear all,
> >>>
> >>> do you know who coined the expression « Jordan’s rule » or « Jordan’s
> >> law »
> >>> (fish species develop more vertebrae in a cold environment than in a
> >>> warm
> >>> one) ?
> >>>
> >>> Thank you in advance.
> >>> Truly yours.
> >>>
> >>> Philippe
> >>>
> >>> SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
> >>>
> >>> Philippe GOLAY
> >>> elapsoïdea
> >>> 21, chemin du Moulin
> >>> CH – 1233 Bernex
> >>> tel : +41(0)22 7771131
> >>> mail : g...@geneva-link.ch
> >>>
> >>> SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
> >>> L’autre jour, au fond d’un vallon, Un serpent piqua Jean Fréron. Que
> >>> pensez-vous qu’il arriva? Ce fut le serpent qui creva.. (Voltaire,
> >> Poésies
> >>> mêlées)
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >>
--
David McNeely
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David McNeely
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