C. J. Herrick, Scholar and Humanist: A Memorial Essay Written for his Centenary

CJ. HERRICK, SCHOLAR AND HUMANIST: A MEMORIAL ESSAY WRITTEN FOR HIS CENTENARY* JAMES L. O'LEARY and G. H. BISHOP^ The current scientific scene is featured by an expansion in knowledge that obscures the significance ofmuch ofwhat had been developed in the preceding era. Today, journals, vastly multiplied in number, are unable to keep pace with the press ofdiscovery, and computers are used increasingly to store and sort new data. A not too obvious outcome ofall this is a much accelerated obsolescence ofprior knowledge, and that is reason for deep regret, since there is always the danger of papering over assets of lasting significance that derive from the earlier period. The observations and theories ofC.J. Herrick have such importance, because they systematize the approach ofcomparativeneurology to the problems ofbehavior as seen from the evolutionary viewpoint. Besides considering aspects of Herrick's work which continue to have much meaning, we wish to deal with the influence ofhis scientific studies upon his personal philosophy. I. The Man HUMANISTIC BACKGROUND C. J. Herrick was born a century ago, his early life spanning the end of the frontier era ofthe American Midwest. Then and later he followed the lead ofhis elder brother Clarence, who developed a naturalist bent at an early age. The Herrick brothers were sons ofa Baptist minister who served in the Civil War as an army chaplain and later participated in the Reconstruction [i, 2]. His early college training at Denison in Ohio was directed toward the ministry. Later he turned to science, studying under Clarence's tutelage at the University ofCincinnati. Clarence was then devoting his time to the * The first C. Judson Herrick Memorial essay. t Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missour i 63 no. 492 James L. O'Leary and G. H. Bishop · C. J. Herrick Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Summer 1969 development of comparative neurology and, incidentally, of psychobiology . Again C. J. followed the elder brother's interest patterns, and frequented the wharves to cull such bony fishes as had little edible value for the fisherman's clientele. These were examined, classified, and preserved for the pursuit ofneural phylogenesis. After receiving his B.S. degree from Cincinnati, C. J. did a teaching stint at Kansas and thereafter returned to Denison as an instructor. Previously , Clarence had assumed a Denison professorship. The heavy work load he undertook there, including early editorship oftheJournal ofComparative Neurology, personal research, and teaching and organizational duties, slowly sapped his energies. After the onset ofa pulmonary illness, his activities had to be drastically curtailed. Thereupon, C. J. took over the editorship and became the sole support of the journal Clarence had founded. To convalesce, Clarence migrated to New Mexico, where he became president ofthe state university. There he returned to a strenuous life and faced many physical hardships with fortitude. These perhaps exacerbated his pulmonary disease, for he died in 1904. He lived on in C. J.'s successful endeavors. In 1896 CJ. completed his thesis for the Ph.D. degree at Columbia; the subject ofhis thesis was the cranial nerves ofMenidia. Until 1907 he continued his work in the congenial atmosphere ofDenison, and thereafter transferred to the University ofChicago as professor ofneurology in the Department of Anatomy, a post he held until the end of his academic career. Earlier Clarence, too, had expected to join the Chicago faculty, and had envisioned the development there of a broad interdisciplinary program in psychobiology. During his long tenure at Chicago, C. J. partially fulfilled Clarence's early ambitions for psychobiology by fostering its development through associations with those of kindred interests within the university and elsewhere. After retiring, C. J. continued his comparative studies, completed unfinished manuscripts, and wrote new ones, some ofwhich were syntheses derived from his long scientific experience. The Brain ofthe Tiger Salamander [3] is the most valuable ofthese and indeed is the outstanding classic ofcomparative neurology. Other works completed during the laterperiod were George Ellett Coghill [4] and the Evolution ofHuman Nature [5]. He also wrote numerous short articles on philosophical and especially humanistic topics. 493 SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND It is worth speculating upon what determined Herrick's particular approach to neural phylogenesis, which, based on...