HERP QL 31 .T37 E37 EDWARD H. TAYLOR: RECOLLECTIONS OF AN HERPETOLOGIST NOTE: The map depicting part of the Philip- pine region, reproduced on the cover, was used by Edward H. Taylor in the course of field work in 1912-1913. Edward H. Taylor EDWARD H. TAYLOR: RECOLLECTIONS OF AN HERPETOLOGIST EDWARD H. TAYLOR Professor and Curator Emeritus Department of Systematics and Ecology and Museum of Natural History The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66045 A. BYRON LEONARD Professor Emeritus Department of Systematics and Ecology The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66045 HOBART M. SMITH Professor Department of Environmental, Population, and Organismic Biology University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado 80302 GEORGE R. PISANI Visiting Instructor Department of Biology The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66045 Monograph of THE Museum of Natural History, The University of Kansas Number 4 1975 University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History Editor: Richard F. Johnston Monograph Series, Publication No. 4 pp. 1-160; 6 figures; 1 plate Published December 15, 1975 WW 1 6 1999 Museum of Natural History The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas 66045 U.S.A. Copyright 1975, Museum of Natural History The University of Kansas Printed by University of Kansas Printing Service Lawrence, Kansas PREFACE The charge to anyone doing a volume like this is complex and best met by artists, not scientists. Professor E. H. Taylor is now 86 years old and has been busy for all that time. How, short of a full biography, can we recreate in our minds the sense of and feeling for this energetic, creative, sometimes irascible man who has had an extraordinary career as naturalist, explorer, teacher, friend (especially of children), scientist, spy, consort of royalty and "father" of modern herpetology? This book senses the man only fractionally and certainly less than we expect for average his full persons. But this is as Professor Taylor wishes it, and story may never be told. This volume about Professor Taylor has had a mixed ancestry. In part, it began two or three years ago as a devoted effort to honor Professor Taylor. The original thought was that some kind of festschrift would be appropriate, pulling together a number of separate and independent scientific contributions in a traditional tribute to this great man. While this idea lurked restlessly in the backs of our minds, Professor Taylor's own efforts came to our attention and resulted in the creation of an autobiographical frag- ment, which has become the heart of the present volume. This section had its inception in a delightful series of radio programs presented by KFKU, K.U.'s own radio station, some 43 years ago. For the most part, these programs dealt with Professor Taylor's experiences in the Philippine Islands and were directed toward young people. Professor Taylor's many friends in the Museum of Natural His- tory (and elsewhere) have encouraged him in his autobiographical efforts—and these continue. Professor Taylor has agreed to let us publish the memoir concerning the Philippines, and we are grateful to him for the opportunity. Thus, instead of a festschrift, we have a work about Professor Taylor. Other parts of the volume concern Professor Taylor's contributions as a teacher, his publications, and a summary or appreciation of his career as a scientist. We are indebted to many for making this book possible. Obviously, without Professor Taylor's own contribution the book would have been entirely different. Many persons assisted in a wide variety of ways in the preparation of the various contributions; in addition to the authors, these include Professor and Mrs. Kraig Adler, Ms. Marlene Orr, Professor William E. Duellman, Professor Howard K. Gloyd, Mr. Joseph T. Collins, and Dr. Stephen R. Edwards. To all of these we are grateful for their devoted tribute to Ed Taylor. Philip S. Humphrey Richard F. Johnston 19 June 1975 CONTENTS I. Philippine Adventures: An Autobiographical Memoir By Edward H. Taylor 1 1. I Arrive On Stage 1 2. Growing Up 5 3. Dreams Do Materialize 8 4. Along Crocodile Road 12 5. My New Neighborhood 21 6. Plow And Carabao 27 7. Drafting Students 33 8. Strife With Mandalingan - — 36 9. Mandalingan's Revenge 43 10. Big Blue Ribbon 50 11. Fired For Inefficiency 54 12. My Life on Negros Island .... 57 13. Conquest of Canlaon ..... 62 14. Zamboanga .... 70 15. The Island of Sinbad 75 16. Lednicky And The Mercury Hunt 82 17. Many Little Fishes 85 18. The Southern Philippines 90 19. Cholera and A Typhoon 96 20. The Graveyard On Tablas 100 21. Polillo —. 105 II. Edward Harrison Taylor: The Teacher By A. Byron Leonard „ 109 III. The Blazing of a Trail: The Scientific Career of Edward Harrison Taylor ByHobartM. Smith 115 IV. The Published Contributions of Edward H. Taylor By George R. Pisani 145 List of Figures Fig. 1. (E. H. Taylor, about 1912-1913) 20 Fig. 2. (E. H. Taylor, about 1922-1923) . 103 Fig. 3. (Kansas field crew, about 1933) ... 112 Fig. 4. (E. H. Taylor, about 1936) - 130 Fig. 5. (E. H. Taylor, about 1936) _ 140 I PHILIPPINE ADVENTURES: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR By Edward H. Taylor 1. I Arrpve On Stage It may be more scientific to begin a story at its beginning, but one can be literary even if one begins at the end. I shall choose a course somewhere in between and begin at my arrival rather than at the start of my journey. There was little remarkable about my arrival since it followed the usual pattern of occurring at a very early age. Both my parents apparently were aware of my intent to come, on or about April 23 in 1889, since both were on hand to give me a cordial welcome on that date. But alas, planned parenthood carries no guarantee of satisfaction, and I was not the invited girl. I refused to be any- thing but a boy. I recognized them as my lawful parents and began communications with a squall at one end fostered by un- certainty at the other. Although it is quite possible my parents regretted the result of their planning, I felt perfectly contented with the outcome. They certainly were not bad parents, a fact that becomes so evident at this late moment when, on the authority of many youths and maidens of the 1970's, parents have deteriorated terrifically; in fact, many children can't even be certain who fathered them. The household into which I arrived was of mixed composition and consisted of brother Eugene, six years old; a cousin Anna, twelve; a grandmother, eighty; and an uncle, Alex (whose fiancee had recently died). And of course, my father and mother, George and Loretta. Our household was a distillation of the larger Taylor clan that, apparently, had all migrated from Ohio shortly after the unpleasant- ness of the 1860s. The family then consisted of two married daughters, Phoebe E. Beatty and Sophia Jane Faucett—along with their families—and sons Robert, George (my father), Thomas R., and Alexander. They left behind the graves of six other children: Edward H. and William, who were lost in the Civil War; Silvania, the firstborn, Fletcher, David, and Martha. If this was planned parenthood, Grandfather evidently was superstitious since Alex was, as far as we know, number twelve and he lived to see his eightieth year. (One might remark that 2 SPECIAL PUBLICATION MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY the theory of zero population growth was not prevalent from the 1830s to the 1850s.) Perhaps to accompany this bit of family history, I should present some idea of the local environment. The house in Maysville, Missouri had very ample surroundings, perhaps a block square, with garden space, a croquet ground, an icehouse, a smokehouse, and what are, perhaps, now called comfort stations. Directly across the street were buildings, stables, grain bins and the like. And immediately west of the house and its environs were fields and a splendid orchard. Occupying a lot to the north was our nearest neighbor Zack Savage, and across the street from him was a Mr. Ransome. This area might be regarded as my early home range. The house had been built by Grandfather and it incorporated part of an old semi-log house that contained a large fireplace in which 6-foot logs could be accommodated and where a great copper kettle might spread the rich aroma of boiling apple butter. This was our living room. A kitchen and a parlor and various and sundry other rooms completed the first level, while most of the sleeping rooms were on an upper floor. There was no refrigeration in the kitchen, but a cave served to keep milk and butter. I do not remember much of my impressions of these surroundings as I was growing up. I do, however, remember a splendid rug in my sleeping room, a Navaho blanket, rose and white, that Uncle Alex had brought back from Las Animas Valley when he was on a hunting adventure in New Mexico in the late 1870s. And I might remark that even though it is nearly 100 years old it now serves the same purpose. It followed me to college and to my fraternity house to enhance the surroundings, and from there it went with me to the Philippines. I had occasion to remember the great fireplace too, and the incident is perhaps one of my earliest memories. I was running and laughing when I stumbled headlong on a rug and slid close enough to the fireplace to burn my hand on the live coals, from which predicament I was snatched by Anna who solaced me by placing my hand in a jar of lard.