The Emergence of Genetic Rationality: Space, Time, and Information in American Biological Science, 1870-1920

5. Categorizing Experience: Space and Time in Nineteenth-Century Natural History

5 / Categorizing Experience Space and Time in Nineteenth-Century Natural History T h e t r e n d t o w a r d v i r t u a l s p e c i m e n s s u p p o r t e d a bifurcated spatial dynamic in late nineteenth-century American history: along with an increased reliance on the medium of national exchange came an increased stress on the importance of local experience. At first glance, these two trends might seem contradictory. One might at first suppose that the development of extensive national networks of exchange would have displaced the practices that privileged a strong regional appreciation of space. Upon reflection, however, one sees how the new exchange networks actually promoted local experiences by making them more valuable. This was especially obvious in Robert Kennicott’s desire to use indigenous collectors. As Kennicott’s historian Debra Lindsay has noted, “Experience had taught scientists that long-term residents not only were adept at procuring natural history specimens but also could distinguish between migratory and resident species and provide information on habits and habitat.”1 Thus the use of extended networks of trade, which brought in project managers familiar with the desires of the Smithsonian but not familiar with the region of collecting, helped at first to emphasize the importance of situated experience in a particular locale. Those wishing to piece together a knowledge predicated on how these locales changed 1 1 6 over the continent needed the information of those who had lived there for a long time. Most U.S. historians are familiar with Robert Wiebe’s characterization of nineteenth-century America as a society of “island communities.” According to Wiebe, “weak communication severely restricted the interaction among these islands.”2 Although perhaps too static a characterization of the experience of individuals during the late nineteenth century, Wiebe’s image of island communities wonderfully evokes how important local experiences were to maintaining the continuity of a community.3 As the nineteenth century waned, and communication and transportation technologies improved, the connections between these “islands” became greater. At first, this mostly emphasized the island qualities of mid- to late nineteenth century life. In other words, although communication and transportation structures opened up the transport of objects and messages to much greater distances much more quickly, this only made it more obvious how many local practices communities engaged in. The collecting practices of Spencer Baird reflected how increasing connections between communities highlighted local as well as extra-local spatial practices . As a young man, Spencer Baird had worked hard to understand the flora and fauna near his home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was known to take extremely long walks to gather specimens. As historian William Deiss recently noted: His solitary collecting trips in the region around Carlisle are legendary. It was not unusual for him to walk forty or fifty miles in a day, carrying a gun, a pack, and specimens secured along the way. . . . In 1842 Baird walked 3300 kilometers , in one pair of laced boots, half-soled three times, and shot 650 birds representing 128 species.4 Although it manifested itself in childhood, friends and family could tell that Baird’s interest in natural history was serious. While still in his early teens, Baird solicited John James Audubon for an opinion on a specimen. Shortly after, at the age of seventeen, Baird even became a collector for Audubon “and began a correspondence , and a friendship, which lasted for several years.”5 By the time that Baird accepted a position at Dickson College in Carlisle, he had struck up a “voluminous ” correspondence with “every major naturalist in America.”6 C A T E G O R I Z I N G E X P E R I E N C E / 1 1 7 In a paper written when he was twenty-one (“List of Birds found in the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland County, Penn., about 40° 12’ N., Lon. 77° 11’ W.,” authored with his brother William M. Baird), Baird convincingly argued for the importance of local experience in documenting bird populations of North America:7 Much has been done towards elucidating the habits of our birds by Wilson, Audubon, and our other writers on the subject, and when the vastness of their field of observation is taken into consideration, no one will be inclined to deny that...