Dr. Drowne, Mrs. Beck, and one or two members of the crew have made remarks to this effect and the consensus of opinion seems to be that he has slipped badly during the last year. He is certainly very thin, there are things which he does in a peculiarly nervous manner, there are tings which he forgets, and says, which would be abnormal in any healthy man. He is, at heart, fed up with the life as is Mrs. Beck. I mention all this not as an alarm, for the work of the France goes on and Beck himself goes on; but as a slight warning that at any time or other the man may become seriously ill and have to give up. He told me he would hang on until July, and if he does I don't think he should carry on any longer. To my way of thinking he is a marvelous character. His energy is prodigious and the tings he has had to put up with, both through the short- comings of his own personality and through the nature of the country, the climate, the isolation of the ship, etc., must write a very distinguished chapter in the history of bird-collecting. Dr. Drowne, in a curious way, is the most generally valuable member of the party. For while it is Beck who supplies the driving power and it is Beck who gets the birds, it is Dr. Drowne who brings in the snails, insects, snakes, possums, and rarities, as well as the birds. His journal is copious, his notes are clear and cover a wide field, and he remains always on very good terms with the crew. I recall that you wanted to know our opinions as to whether Dr. Drowne was fit to take over the Expedi-