Thomas Say

Thomas Say
Portrait of Thomas Say (1818) by Charles Willson Peale
Born	June 27, 1787(1787-06-27) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	October 10, 1834(1834-10-10) (aged 47) New Harmony, Indiana
Nationality	American
Fields	Natural history, Entomology
Institutions	Academy of Natural Sciences Entomological Society of America
Known for	"father of descriptive entomology in the United States"

Thomas Say (June 27, 1787 – October 10, 1834) 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 beetles and over 400 species of insects 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.

Early life and education

Thomas Say was born in Philadelphia into a prominent Quaker 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.

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 Sciences 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.

Papilio turnus (= Papilio glaucus), from 'American Entomology'

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 utopian 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.

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 Conchology, 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, in New Harmony on 10 October 1834, when he was 47 years old.

Legacy and honors

Say described over 1,000 new species of beetles and over 400 species of insects 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 (Smith 1869);
• Lanceola sayana (Bovallius, 1885), an amphipod from the family Lanceolidae;
• Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya (Bonaparte, 1825), a bird in the tyrant flycatcher family;
• Appalachina sayana (Pilsbry in Pilsbry & Ferriss, 1906), a land snail in the family Polygyridae;
• the Bullsnake, Pituophis catenifer sayi (Schlegel,1837).

See also

• William Kirby, also considered the "Father of Entomology"

References

• John L. Le Conte, The Complete Writings of Thomas Say on the Entomology of North America, two volumes, Baillière Brothers, New York, 1859

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)
• Tomb of Thomas Say, The Naturalist Historical Society of Pennsylvania