Natural History Investigations in South Carolina from Colonial Times to Present.

Natural History Investigations in South Carolina from Colonial Times to Present. By Albert E. Sanders and William D. Anderson Jr. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, c. 1999. Pp. xl, 333. $45.00, ISBN 1-57003-278-5.)

The authors of this book have succeeded in producing a work that draws upon their long experience and collection knowledge of South Carolina natural history. They tell us that it began as a chapter of Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology (Theodore Pietsch and William Anderson, eds., American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Special Publication No. 3; Lawrence, Kans., 1997). They determined to widen their focus, however, because "limiting it solely to a recitation of the activities of the naturalists who studied our state would have led to an inadequate appreciation of their accomplishments" (p. xviii). The significant accomplishments of antebellum naturalists in South Carolina, including Andre and Francois Michaux, Stephen Elliott, Joel Poinsett, Edmund Ravenel, John Bachman, John Audubon, John Holbrook, and Lewis Gibbes, among others, are recounted in the resulting volume.

The authors describe the activities of Lowcountry naturalists in particular, "because the early workers who laid the foundation for natural history studies in South Carolina worked mostly in Charleston and its environs and were usually associated in some capacity with the Charleston Museum" (p. xxiii). The importance of the Elliott Society and the Charleston Museum are discussed in terms of how they incubated and promoted natural science through informal contacts as well as by establishing research collections. South Carolina was in the forefront of the nation's advances in natural science during the antebellum period. The impact of the Civil War on that preeminence is recounted in detail by the authors, who title the chapter on the subject "Sherman Proves That `War is Hell'" (p. 83). They not only regret the losses of natural history collections but also the destruction of a economic base that promoted scientific endeavor. Even so, the lengthy description of damage done during the war is out of place (as is the long description of the Scopes Trial, pp. 145-47).

The solid core of the book is a sympathetic account of the Charleston Museum and the individuals connected with it who have assisted in its amassing its natural history collection. The biographical information about late nineteenth- and twentieth-century naturalists such as Laura Bragg, Paul Rea, Burnham Chamberlain, Andrew Lee Pickens, and Milby Burton will hopefully provide the foundation for an appreciation of their contributions on par with those of the antebellum naturalists. Further exposition of the separation of the Charleston Museum from the College of Charleston in 1915, and Paul Rea's departure from the museum's directorship in 1920, would have provided a better understanding of these pivotal developments in the museum's history. The importance that the youth education field program at the Charleston Museum had in exposing a generation of young naturalists to field experiences and a love of the outdoors is well documented and something that natural history museums today should continue to emulate. Equally observant is their regard for the important contributions that amateurs and volunteers continue to provide to natural history studies.

The last portion of the twentieth century is, as the authors admit, too recent for their purview, but they do mention some organizations, including the Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, and the Sierra Club, that "have worked hard and successfully to encourage the protection of the rich biological heritage of South Carolina" (pp. 229-30). The history of the conservation of natural resources in South Carolina deserves further attention, since the state has been in the forefront of soil conservation, bird sanctuaries, and coastal preservation. This volume serves as a guidepost for studying the investigations of individual natural history scientists in South Carolina, as well as for appreciating the role of the Charleston Museum and its antecedents in insuring the continued understanding of nature in a state with great natural beauty and biodiversity.

MICHAEL KOHL
Clemson University