Thomas Say
Encyclopedia
Thomas Say was an American
naturalist
, entomologist, malacologist, herpetologist and carcinologist. A taxonomist, he is often considered to be the father of descriptive entomology
in the United States. He described more than 1,000 new species of beetle
s and over 400 species of insect
s of other orders, more than any individual before him. Say was one of the founding fathers of the Entomological Society of America
(ESA). The ESA maintains several series of publications and awards that are named after Say.
family. The great-grandson of John Bartram
, and the great-nephew of William Bartram
. His father, Dr. Benjamin Say was also brother-in-law to another Bartram son, Moses Bartram. The Say family had a house, "The Cliffs" at Gray's Ferry, adjoining the Bartram family farms in Kingessing township, Philadelphia County, and Say often visited the family garden, Bartram's Garden
. Say probably learned about natural history from his great uncle William and frequently took butterfly and beetle specimens to him when he was a boy.
of Philadelphia (ANSP). In 1816 he met Charles Alexandre Lesueur
(1778–1846), a French naturalist, malacologist, and ichthyologist. Lesueur also became a member of the Academy and served as its curator, between 1816 and 1824.
Say began his work on what he would publish as American Entomology while at the Academy. He made numerous expeditions to frontier areas to collect specimens of insects. Such expeditions were at risk for American Indian
attacks, dangers of the frontier, and hazards of traveling in wild countryside. In 1818 Say accompanied his friend William Maclure
(1763–1840), president of the ANSP (1817–1840) and father of American geology
; Gerhard Troost, a geologist; and other members of the Academy on a geological expedition to the off-shore islands of Georgia
and Florida
, then a Spanish colony.
In 1819–1820, Major Stephen Harriman Long
led an exploration to the Rocky Mountains
and the tributaries of the Missouri River
, with Thomas Say appointed as zoologist. Their official account of this expedition included the first descriptions of the Coyote
, Swift Fox
, Western Kingbird
, Band-tailed Pigeon
, Rock Wren
, Say's Phoebe
, Lesser Goldfinch
, Lark Sparrow
, Lazuli Bunting
and Orange-crowned Warbler
.
In 1823, Say served as chief zoologist in Long's expedition to the headwaters of the Mississippi River
. He traveled on the notable "Boatload of Knowledge" to the "New Harmony
Settlement" in Indiana
(1826–1834), a utopia
n society experiment founded by Robert Owen
. Say was accompanied by Maclure, Lesueur, Francis Neef, an educator, and Gerhard Troost. There he later met Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz
(1783–1840), another naturalist.
During their years in New Harmonym, both Say and Lesueur experienced considerable difficulties. Say was a modest and unassuming man, who lived frugally like a hermit He abandoned commercial activities and devoted himself to his studies, making difficulties for his family.
Thomas Say died, apparently from typhoid fever
, in New Harmony on 10 October 1834, when he was 47 years old.
s and over 400 species of insect
s of other orders. No single individual before had discovered more new species than he.
Though best known as an entomologist, he also described seven well-known species of snakes.
Other zoologists honored him by naming several species after him, such as
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
naturalist
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, entomologist, malacologist, herpetologist and carcinologist. A taxonomist, he is often considered to be the father of descriptive entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
in the United States. He described more than 1,000 new species of beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s and over 400 species of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s of other orders, more than any individual before him. Say was one of the founding fathers of the Entomological Society of America
Entomological Society of America
The Entomological Society of America was founded in 1889 and today has more than 6,000 members, including educators, extension personnel, consultants, students, researchers, and scientists from agricultural departments, health agencies, private industries, colleges and universities, and state and...
(ESA). The ESA maintains several series of publications and awards that are named after Say.
Early life and education
Thomas Say was born in Philadelphia into a prominent QuakerReligious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
family. The great-grandson of John Bartram
John Bartram
*Hoffmann, Nancy E. and John C. Van Horne, eds., America’s Curious Botanist: A Tercentennial Reappraisal of John Bartram 1699-1777. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 243. ....
, and the great-nephew of William Bartram
William Bartram
William Bartram was an American naturalist. The son of Ann and John Bartram, William Bartram and his twin sister Elizabeth were born in Kingsessing, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. As a boy, he accompanied his father on many of his travels, to the Catskill Mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens,...
. His father, Dr. Benjamin Say was also brother-in-law to another Bartram son, Moses Bartram. The Say family had a house, "The Cliffs" at Gray's Ferry, adjoining the Bartram family farms in Kingessing township, Philadelphia County, and Say often visited the family garden, Bartram's Garden
Bartram's Garden
Bartram's Garden which covers is the oldest surviving botanic garden in North America, including an historic botanical garden and arboretum , located on the west bank of the Schuylkill River in Fairmount Park, near the intersection of 54th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
. Say probably learned about natural history from his great uncle William and frequently took butterfly and beetle specimens to him when he was a boy.
Career
He became an apothecary in his native town. Developing his interests in nature, he became a self-taught naturalist. In 1812 Say became a charter member and founder of the Academy of Natural SciencesAcademy of Natural Sciences
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the New World...
of Philadelphia (ANSP). In 1816 he met Charles Alexandre Lesueur
Charles Alexandre Lesueur
Charles Alexandre Lesueur was a French naturalist, artist and explorer.Pictured here is the oil portrait by Charles Willson Peale of Charles-Alexandre Lesueur...
(1778–1846), a French naturalist, malacologist, and ichthyologist. Lesueur also became a member of the Academy and served as its curator, between 1816 and 1824.
Say began his work on what he would publish as American Entomology while at the Academy. He made numerous expeditions to frontier areas to collect specimens of insects. Such expeditions were at risk for American Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
attacks, dangers of the frontier, and hazards of traveling in wild countryside. In 1818 Say accompanied his friend William Maclure
William Maclure
William Maclure, American - British social experimenter on new types of community life together with British social reformer Robert Owen, , in Indiana State, U. S. A....
(1763–1840), president of the ANSP (1817–1840) and father of American geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
; Gerhard Troost, a geologist; and other members of the Academy on a geological expedition to the off-shore islands of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, then a Spanish colony.
In 1819–1820, Major Stephen Harriman Long
Stephen Harriman Long
Stephen Harriman Long was a U.S. army explorer, topographical engineer, and railway engineer. As an inventor, he is noted for his developments in the design of steam locomotives. He was also one of the most prolific explorers of the early 1800s, although his career as an explorer was relatively...
led an exploration to the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and the tributaries of the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
, with Thomas Say appointed as zoologist. Their official account of this expedition included the first descriptions of the Coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
, Swift Fox
Swift Fox
The swift fox is a small light orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western grasslands of North America, such as Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. It also lives in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada, where it was previously extirpated...
, Western Kingbird
Western Kingbird
The Western Kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher.Adults are grey-olive on the upperparts with a grey head and a dark line through the eyes; the underparts are light becoming light orange-yellow on the lower breast and belly. They have a long black tail with white outer feathers...
, Band-tailed Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
The Band-tailed Pigeon, Patagioenas fasciata, is a medium-sized bird of the Americas. Its closest relatives are the Chilean Pigeon and the Ring-tailed Pigeon, which form a clade of Patagioenas with a terminal tail band and iridescent plumage on their necks.It ranges from British Columbia, Utah, and...
, Rock Wren
Rock Wren
The Rock Wren is a small songbird of the wren family. It is the only species in the genus Salpinctes.The 12 cm long adults have grey-brown upperparts with small black and white spots and pale grey underparts with a light brown rump...
, Say's Phoebe
Say's Phoebe
The Say's Phoebe is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family.Adults have brownish-gray upperparts with an orange-brown belly and light gray on the throat and breast. Juveniles have cinnamon wing bars; adults have no wing bars....
, Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Goldfinch
The Lesser Goldfinch or Dark-backed Goldfinch is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American Goldfinch and Lawrence's Goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus Carduelis sensu stricto.The American goldfinches can be distinguished by the...
, Lark Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
The Lark Sparrow is a fairly large American sparrow. It is the only member of the genus Chondestes.This passerine bird breeds in southern Canada, much of the United States, and northern Mexico. It is much less common in the east, where its range is contracting...
, Lazuli Bunting
Lazuli Bunting
The Lazuli Bunting, Passerina amoena, is a North American songbird named for the gemstone lapis lazuli.The male is easily recognized by its bright blue head and back , its conspicuous white wingbars, and its light rusty breast and white belly...
and Orange-crowned Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
The Orange-crowned Warbler is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.These birds are distinguished by their lack of wing bars, streaking on the underparts, strong face marking or bright colouring, resembling a fall Tennessee Warbler. The orange patch on the crown is usually not visible...
.
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. He traveled on the notable "Boatload of Knowledge" to the "New Harmony
New Harmony, Indiana
New Harmony is a historic town on the Wabash River in Harmony Township, Posey County, Indiana, United States. It lies north of Mount Vernon, the county seat. The population was 916 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Evansville metropolitan area. Many of the old Harmonist buildings still stand...
Settlement" in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
(1826–1834), a utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n society experiment founded by Robert Owen
Robert Owen
Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
. Say was accompanied by Maclure, Lesueur, Francis Neef, an educator, and Gerhard Troost. There he later met Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz, as he is known in Europe, was a nineteenth-century polymath who made notable contributions to botany, zoology, the study of prehistoric earthworks in North America and Mesoamerican ancient linguistics.Rafinesque was eccentric, and is often portrayed as an...
(1783–1840), another naturalist.
Marriage and family
Say secretly married Lucy Way Sistare, whom he had met as one of the passengers to New Harmony. They married near the settlement on January 4, 1827. She was an artist and illustrator of specimens (such as in the book American Conchology). Later she was elected as the first woman member of the Academy of Natural Sciences.Later career
At New Harmony, Thomas Say carried on his monumental work describing insects and mollusks, leading to two classic works:- American Entomology, or Descriptions of the Insects of North America, 3 volumes, Philadelphia, 1824–1828.
- American ConchologyConchologyConchology is the scientific or amateur study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs, however malacology studies molluscs as whole organisms, not just their shells. Conchology pre-dated malacology as a field of study. It includes the study of land and...
, or Descriptions of the Shells of North America Illustrated From Coloured Figures From Original Drawings Executed from Nature, Parts 1 – 6, New Harmony, 1830–1834; Part 7, Philadelphia, 1836.
During their years in New Harmonym, both Say and Lesueur experienced considerable difficulties. Say was a modest and unassuming man, who lived frugally like a hermit He abandoned commercial activities and devoted himself to his studies, making difficulties for his family.
Thomas Say died, apparently from typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
, in New Harmony on 10 October 1834, when he was 47 years old.
Legacy and honors
Say described over 1,000 new species of beetleBeetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s and over 400 species of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s of other orders. No single individual before had discovered more new species than he.
Though best known as an entomologist, he also described seven well-known species of snakes.
Other zoologists honored him by naming several species after him, such as
- Say's mud crab or Caribbean mud crab, Dyspanopeus (Neopanope) sayi (SmithSidney Irving SmithSidney Irving Smith was an American zoologist.-Private life:Sidney Smith was the son of Elliot Smith and Lavinia Barton. His brother in law was Addison Emery Verrill. Smith married Eugenia Pocahontas Barber in New Haven, Connecticut on June 29, 1882...
1869); - Lanceola sayana (Bovallius, 1885), an amphipod from the family Lanceolidae;
- Say's PhoebeSay's PhoebeThe Say's Phoebe is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family.Adults have brownish-gray upperparts with an orange-brown belly and light gray on the throat and breast. Juveniles have cinnamon wing bars; adults have no wing bars....
, Sayornis saya (BonaparteCharles Lucien BonaparteCharles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano was a French naturalist and ornithologist.-Biography:...
, 1825), a bird in the tyrant flycatcherTyrant flycatcherThe tyrant flycatchers are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds on Earth, with more than 400 species. They are the most diverse avian family in every country in the Americas, except for the United States and...
family; - Appalachina sayanaAppalachina sayanaThe Appalachina sayana, also known as the Spike-lip Crater, is a species of small, air-breathing, land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Polygyridae.- Distribution and conservation status :...
(PilsbryHenry Augustus PilsbryHenry Augustus Pilsbry was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a century...
in Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1906), a land snailSnailSnail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
in the family PolygyridaePolygyridaePolygyridae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Helicoidea.The Polygyridae make up a significant proportion of the land snail fauna of eastern North America, and are also found in western North America, northern Central America, and...
; - the BullsnakeBullsnakeThe bullsnake ' is a large non-venomous colubrid snake, widespread in the central part of the United States, northern Mexico, and southwestern Saskatchewan and Alberta Canada. It is currently considered a subspecies of the gopher snake '...
, Pituophis catenifer sayi (SchlegelHermann SchlegelHermann Schlegel was a German ornithologist and herpetologist.-Early life and education:Schlegel was born at Altenburg, the son of a brassfounder. His father collected butterflies, which stimulated Schlegel's interest in natural history...
,1837).
See also
- William Kirby, also considered the "Father of Entomology"
External links
- Bird names honoring Thomas Say
- Insect names honoring Thomas Say
- Fishes named honoring Thomas Say
- "New Harmony", University of Indiana
- "Thomas Say in New Harmony", Notes from Underground
- The entomological collection of Thomas Say pdf
- Pomacea paludosa (Say, 1829)