Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

I’m kind of in love with this page from Meriwether Lewis’ journal for February 24, 1806, in which his notes about Thaleichthys pacificus surround his diagonal illustration. The page is reproduced in Field Notes on Science and Nature, a book anybody going into any branch of science that involves note-taking should read.

mthew

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4 responses to “”

  1. Elizabeth White

    I won’t be reading this any time soon – Brooklyn Public Library doesn’t own the book. New York Public does, but someone else (you?) has already reserved it.

    But I’ve put it on my “For Later” shelf – thanks for listing this!

    Reply
    1. mthew

      I had the NYPL copy for a turn.

      Reply
  2. ronpswegman

    This is a famous drawing. The popular name of the species pictured is euchalon, or “candlefish” – so named because the fish’s oil content is so high that dried examples can be lit! My publisher, Frank Amato Publications, published a book in 2004 for the 200th anniversary of the expedition – Lewis & Clark’s Northwest Journey: “Weather Disagreeable” by George Miller – that mentions this fish . . .

    Reply
    1. mthew

      Thanks for the further info!

      Reply

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