Catalogue of the papers and correspondence of CHARLES SUTHERLAND ELTON FRS (1900 - 1991) Compiled by Peter Harper and Timothy E. Powell Deposited in the Department of Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Oxford NCUACS39/1/93 All rights reserved University of Bath 1993 ROYAL COMMISSION ON HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS Report on the correspondence and papers of CHARLES SUTHERLAND ELTON (1900-1991) animal ecologist in the Department of Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Oxford Reproduced for the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists (NCUACS39/1/93) by The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP 1993 All rights reserved No 3/93 NRA 35910 C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 The work of the National Cataloguing Unit for the Archives of Contemporary Scientists, and the production of this catalogue, are made possible by the support of the following societies and organisations: The Biochemical Society The British Library British Petroleum plc The Geological Society The Institute of Physics The Royal Society The Royal Society of Chemistry The Society of Chemical Industry The Wellcome Trust C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 LIST OF CONTENTS GENERAL INTRODUCTION Items Page SECTION A BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL A.1-A.85 SECTION B NOTEBOOKS SECTION C EXPEDITIONS SECTION D FIELDWORK AND SURVEYS SECTION E CORRESPONDENCE INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS B.1-B.38 C.1-C.57 D.1-D.18 E.1-E.78 15 18 24 26 34 C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 3 GENERAL INTRODUCTION PROVENANCE The papers werereceived from C.S. Elton’s widow, Mrs E.J. Elton, in March 1992. OUTLINE OF THE CAREER OF C.S. ELTON Charles Sutherland Elton, the father of English animal ecology, was born in Manchester and educated at Liverpool College and New College, Oxford graduating with first class honours in zoology in 1922. Elton’s interest in natural history was inspired by his elder brother Geoffrey and he devoted his career at Oxford University to turning natural history into the science of ecology, applying the scientific method to studying the lives of animals in their natural habitats and In 1921, while still an undergraduate, he acted as interrelationships with their surroundings. assistantto Julian Huxley on an Oxford University expedition to Spitsbergen, making an ecological surveyoflocal animallife, a project he continued on three subsequentArctic expeditionsin 1923, In 1927 he published his classic work Animal Ecology, outlining important 1924 and 1930. principles of ecological studies such as food chains and the food cycle, the size of food, niches His Arctic experience led to a biological consultancy with the and the ‘pyramid of numbers’. Hudson’s Bay Company, 1926-1931 which enabledhim to studyfluctuations in the populations of furbearing animals, and this in turn led to researchon the fluctuationsin Britain’s mouse and vole populations. In 1932 Elton established his Bureau of Animal Population at Oxford which became a centre for the collection of data on variations in animal numbers and research institute in In the same year he became the founding editor of the Journal of Animal terrestrial ecology. Ecology. In 1936 Oxford University appointed him Reader in Animal Ecology and CorpusChristi College elected him a Senior Research Fellow. During the Second World War the Bureau was assigned to protect Britain’s vital foodstuffs by finding effective methods of controlling rats, mice and rabbits, under the Agricultural Research After the war Elton embarked on a comprehensive survey of animals and their Council. interrelationships on Oxford University’s Wytham estate, 1945-1967. On retirement he studied species diversity in tropical rainforest during several trips to tropical America. His interests in conservation and problems in the managementof nature reserves led to much advisory workfor the Nature Conservancy which wasestablished in 1949. Among his later books were The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants (1958) and The Pattern of Animal Communities (1966). Elton received many honours and awardsin recognition of his contribution to ecology. He was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1953 and awarded the Society’s Darwin Medal in 1970. He received the American Ecological Society's Eminent Ecologist Award (the first for a C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 4 General Introduction non-American) in 1961, the Linnean Society’s Gold Medalin 1967, the John and Alice Tyler Award for Ecology in 1976 and the Edward W.Browning Award for Conserving the Environmentin 1977. Elton died in Oxford in 1991. DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPERS There is important The papers are presented in the order given in the List of Contents. biographical and autobiographical material, records of Elton’s expeditions, fieldwork and surveys including photographs, his natural history notebooks, and correspondence. Section A, Biographical and autobiographical, brings together records of Elton’s career, honours and awards, publications, family letters, and the autobiographical writings of his later years and the material he assembled in connection with this activity. Amongst this assembled material are recordsrelating to the Bureau of Animal Population, Elton’s university teaching and his work for the Nature Conservancy. Section B, Notebooks, presents a sequence of natural history notebooks which Elton kept for a period of over seventy years, 1914-1987. There are also two‘precis’ notebooks from the 1920s used for notes on the literature, meetings of scientific societies, miscellaneous information and ideas, and the ‘Corpus Christi Garden Book’ which Elton kept, 1938-1945, during his Garden Mastership of the College. Section C, Expeditions, presents records, principally diaries and photographs, of the four Arctic expeditions, 1921-1930, three visits to the Mols laboratory and nature reserve, Femméller, In respect of the 1921 Denmark, 1953-1962, and four visits to tropical America, 1965-1973. Spitsbergen expedition, for which no contemporary diary of Elton’s survives, Elton prepared, 1978- 1983, a general account with photographs, in three volumes (ring-binders), specifically with archival deposit in mind. Section D, Fieldwork and surveys, presents records of an ecological survey at Leckford, Hampshire, 1938-1939, and of ash bark beetle (Hylesinus fraxini) research carried out in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire and at the Bureau of Animal Population, Oxford, 1948-1964. There are also seven photograph albums covering a wide range of locations and habitats including Leckford, Wytham Woods and Nature Conservancy areas, 1927-1963. Section E, Correspondence, includes a small numberof substantial exchanges with colleagues who begantheir research careers with Elton in Oxford, notably R.S. Miller, 1951-1989, and C. Overgaard Nielsen, 1952-1967. The exchange with P.W. Crowcroft, 1980-1990, is less substantial but relates to Crowcroft’s history of the Bureau of Animal Population, E/ton’s Ecologists (Chicago University Press, 1991). Also ofinterest is Elton’s correspondencewith the Russian ecologist N.I. Kalabukhov C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 5 General Introduction and colleagues with whom heestablished contact in connection with the later work on the ecology of the tropical rainforest. There is also an index of correspondents. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are very grateful to Mrs Elton for making the papers available, and for advice and encouragement. P. Harper T.E. Powell Bath 1993 C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 SECTION A BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL A.1-A.85 A.1-A.13 CAREER, HONOURS AND AWARDS A.14-A.23 FAMILY A.24-.A.31 PUBLICATIONS A.32-A.82 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL A.83-A.85 OBITUARIES AND TRIBUTES CAREER, HONOURS AND AWARDS A.1 A.2 A.3 A.4 Commission 2nd Lieutenant Land Forces (Temporary) in Corps of Royal Engineers, 23 May 1919. Hudson’s Bay Companyconsultancy, 1926-31. See also A.80. Murchison Grant, Royal Geographical Society, June 1929. Fellowship, New York Zoological Society, 1931. Senior Research Fellowship, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 1936, 1951. Honorary Fellowship, Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 1967. A.5-A.7 Oxford University Appointments, reappointments, stipend, reports on periods of office. A.5 A6 A.7 A.8 1936. 1940-49. 1950-59. 1962-63. Request from the Admiralty for information about meansof preventing and alleviating mosquito bites in north Norway, with Elton’s reply, May 1940. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 Biographical and Autobiographical A.9 Honorary Life Membership, Chicago Academy of Sciences, 1946. Honorary Membership, The Wildlife Society, 1949. Fellowship of the Royal Society, 1953. A.10 Honorary Membership, British Ecological Society, 1960. Eminent Ecologist Award, Ecological Society of America, 1961. Linnean Gold Medal, Linnean Society of London, 1967. Foreign Honorary Membership, American Academyof Sciences, 1968. Honorary Membership, American Society of Mammalogists, 1973. Tyler Ecology Award, 1976. Edward W. Browning Award, 1977. A.13 Certificate of Appreciation, Ecological Society of America, 1982. Honorary Fellowship, Institute of Biology, 1983. Honorary Membership, American Society of Zoologists, 1985. FAMILY See also A.39, A.78. A.14 Oliver Elton, father. 1861-1945. Four letters from Elton to his father, 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1938. A.15 Letitia Maynard Elton, mother. 1865-1948. Five letters from Elton to his mother, 1925 (two), 1926 (three). A.16-A.22 Geoffrey York Elton, brother. 1893-1927. A.16 Diary, 1910. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 Biographical and Autobiographical A.17 A.18 A.19 A.20 A.21 A.22 A.23 PUBLICATIONS A.24 A.25 A.26 ‘The Pikelet’. August 1912. Issue number one of magazine produced by G.Y. Elton, Manuscript cover with contents list and manuscript paginated 8-15 ‘The Enemy’s Country by Alumnunculus (G.Y.E.)’. The other contributions, as enumeratedin the contentslist, do not survive. Notebook used by G.Y. bibliographical reference, 1920. Elton for notes on fish culture, latest Five letters from CSE to GYE, 1913-14, and two letters from GYE to CSE, 1913 and 1915. The letters are annotated by Elton, probably in connection with the preparation of his autobiography. Four letters from GYE in the army to CSE, 1917-18. Three letters from GYE to CSE, ?1920-21. ‘GYE Fish Letters Screened and most discarded’. Contents of folder so letter from the Trent Fish Culture Co. Ltd. to GYE, 1920 and inscribed: four letters from GYE to CSE, 1920 and nd. Soft cover ‘work book’ used by Elton for abstracts of family letters. Bibliographies Animal ecology, Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1927. Contract only. Voles, mice and lemmings, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1942. Correspondence with Wheldon & Wesley Limited re facsimile reprint (1965), 1960, 1965, 1980, 1987. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 9 Biographical and Autobiographical A.27, A.28 The ecology of invasions by animals and plants, Methuen, London, 1958. A.27 Contract. Correspondencere Polish edition, 1965, 1967. A.28 Inscribed ‘CE copy (corrected) and ‘Proof copy, used to Proof copy. assemble extensions and analogous new data. But it does not have the Plates nor Index’. A.29, A.30 Pattern of Animal Communities, Methuen, London, 1966. A.29 A.30 Contract. Reviews. Letters from readers. A.31 Chapman & Hall Ltd. Sales and royalties, 1975-89. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL A.32 ‘Small Adventures. A private record of the early life of Charles Sutherland Elton’. 45pp typescript notes which Elton began in 1955. The notes incorporate somefamily letters not subsequently kept by Elton. Folder also includes: ‘The Noble Art’, 5pp typescript, with letter congratulating Elton on his boxing for Oxford University, 4 December 1922. ‘Howare the Mice?’, 5pp typescript. Elton explains that before the Second World Warthis wasthe onlyintelligent question about his work any Corpus During the war the question was: Christi College don ever asked him. how are the rats? C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 10 Biographical and Autobiographical A.33-A.82 Notes, drafts and background material for the autobiographical‘Life and Scientific Work’ Elton was preparing towards the endofhislife. His purposeis explained in a draft preface at A.36: These notesare primarily intended as material for the construction of my obituary by the Royal Society, and secondly as a record for my family. They are not an autobiography as such, though they include more information thana scientific biography would require. Some of the information can be regarded as background, and some as being of possible interest to future explorers of the history of ecological research. The material was found in Elton’s binders and folders and whereavailable his titles and inscriptions are reproduced in the catalogue entries. A.33, A.34 ‘Life’. Contents of Elton’s binder divided into two for ease of reference: narratives of family background, school, military training, student days, notes on his books, geological, meteorological and ecological interests, and on his brother Geoffrey, photographs. A.35 A.36 A.37 A.38 A.39 ‘Life 1921’. Contents of ring binder so inscribed: manuscript account of 1921 Spitsbergen expedition, photographs. ‘Introduction and general’. ‘Introduction (Materials)’. Includes Elton’s speech at ‘Inaugural meeting of the Bureau of Animal Population in its new quarters ..., 18 April, 1947’. ‘Photos for memoirs’. ‘Abstracts from family letters (relevant to Life History)’. A.40-A.42 ‘Chronology data’. 3 folders. Include correspondence and obituaries of colleagues. A.43-A.46 ‘Department of Zoological Field Studies. Bureau of Animal Population’. A.43, A.44 Diary of events, 1946-67. 2 folders. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 11 A.45 A.46 A.47 Biographical and Autobiographical Lists of researchstaff, etc. Correspondence, 1976, 1980. ‘The First 30 Years of the Bureau of Animal Population’. The ‘substanceof a talk’ on the history of the Bureau given by Elton, 14 February 1962. 17pp duplicated typescript privately circulated. A.48 Samples of punched data cards designed by Elton and usedat the Bureau. A.49-A.52 ‘Teaching’. Lecture notes for Elton’s courses on ecology and faunal history, various dates 1957-58 to ‘last’ ecology and faunal history [1966-67]. 4 folders. A.53 A.54 A.55 A.56 A.57 A.58 ‘Animal Disease Squileries Influenza’. Includes correspondence. ‘Community Ecology’. ‘Ecological surveys & community structure’. Includes abstract of talk by Elton ‘What is an important species?’ given at Glasgow University, May 1967, and correspondence. ‘Evolution’. ‘Geology (polygons)’. ‘Matamek’. Abstract of papers and discussions, Matamek conference on biological cycles held at Matamek Factory, Canadian Labrador, 23 July 1931. The abstracts etc were prepared for publication by Elton and include his owncontributions. A.59 ‘Misc. Ecological’. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 12 Biographical and Autobiographical A.59A Miscellaneous ecological. A.60-A.62 ‘Nature Conservancy’. A.60 A.61 A.62 A.63 British Ecological Society report on Nature Conservation and Nature Reserves, October 1943. Correspondence and papers re establishment of Nature Conservancy, 1946, 1948-49. Includes invitation to serve, 9 December 1948, and text of Royal Charter. Correspondence 1956, 1964-68. ‘Nature Conservancy matters’. Correspondence and papers re destruction of roadside meadow-scrub community, toxic chemicals, and Wychwood, Oxfordshire, 1954, 1960-61, etc. A.64 ‘Nature Conservancy Oxon-Berks Striping Survey’. Correspondence and papers, 1950, 1952-53, 1956, 1962. A.65-A.68 ‘N.C. Memoranda & Reports’. Wartime reports and memoranda on nature preservation in postwar reconstruction, etc., 1941-43, 1945. A.65 A.66 A.67 A.68 A.69 1941. 1942. 1943. 1945. ‘Non-Spitsbergen’. re yellow ants at Wytham Park, and re Combe Halt. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 13 Biographical and Autobiographical A.70 ‘Park Town Jungle’. Elton’s notes on the flora of Park Town, Oxford, prepared January 1974 and revised 1981. A.71 A.72 A.73 A.74 A.75 A.76 ‘Population Cycles’. ‘Rachel Carson’. Includes correspondenceand obituary. ‘Sledge-dog/arctic fox epidemics’. One letter only, 1984. ‘Tropics’. ‘Vole work’. Includes letter from D.H. Chitty, 1989. ‘Wartime Rat/Mouse Work’. Includes letter from Port of London Health Authority, 1946. A.77 ‘Wytham Survey’. A.78-A.82 Miscellaneous expeditions, Hudson’s Bay Company, natural history notebooks, etc. notes Department, colleagues, re_ family, Oxford 5 folders. Include little correspondence. OBITUARIES AND TRIBUTES A.83 Obituaries, 1991. C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 14 Biographical and Autobiographical A.84 A.85 Reprint of A.C. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1974. Hardy’s article ‘Charles Elton’ from 15th edition Article by novelist Maggie Gee on ‘Green Book Fortnight’, Observer, 16 April 1989, referring to the work of Elton and his wife Joy, the poet, E.J. Scovell. Special Elton festschrift number of Journal of Animal Ecology, February 1968. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 15 SECTION B NOTEBOOKS B.1-B.38 See also A.81 B.1-B.34 Natural History notebooks. B.1 B.2 B.3 B.4 B.5 B.6 B.7 B.8 B.9 B.13 B.14 ‘April-July 1914’. ‘Llanengan Aug. 11 - Sep. 1914’. ‘Marlborough, and SavenakeForest, 27 July - Aug - Sept 10 1915’. ‘Sept 1915 to May 1918’. ‘1919-1923’ (Including Hollybush 1922)’. ‘June 1923 - April 1925’. ‘Hollybush July 1925’. ‘June 1942 - 21 May 1944’. No.1 of Elton’s numbered series of natural history notebooks. ‘22 May 1944 - 14 Oct. 1945’. No.2. ‘1 Nov. 1945 - 30 Oct. 1946’. No.3. ‘Nov. 1946 - 2 June 1948’. No.4. Thefirst entry is for 17 March 1947. ‘June 1948 - 21 Aug 1949’. No.5. ‘31 Aug. 1949 - 19 Aug. 1951’. No.6. ‘31 Aug. 1951 - 18 Aug. 1953’. No.7. C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 16 Notebooks ‘20 Aug. 1953 - 2 July 1954 *. No.8. ‘6 July 1954 - 8 Dec. 1955’. No.9. ‘12 Jan. 1956 - 9 October 1956’. No.10. ‘21 October 1956 - 16 April 1958’. No.11. ‘17 April 1958 - 29 Oct. 1958’. No.12. ‘2 November 1958 - 8 Sept. 1959’. No.13. ‘12 September 1959 - 16 June 1960’. No.14. ‘19 June 1960 - 9 Feb. 1961’. No.15. ‘26 Feb. 1961 - 12 Oct. 1961’. No.16. ‘26 Oct. 1961 - 22 April 1963’. No.17. ‘26 April 1963 - 3 April 1965’. No.18. ‘9 April 1965 - 5 June 1970’. No.19. ‘7 June 1970 - 5 Jan 1975’. No.20 Thefirst entry is for 12 June 1970. ‘18 January 1975 - 22 June 1978’. No.21. ‘25 June 1978 - 8 October 1982’. No.22. ‘20 October 1982 - 11 August 1983’. No.23. ‘13 Aug. 1983 - 22 July 1984’. No.24. ‘24 July 1984 - 30 Sept 1985’. No.25. B.15 B.16 B.17 B.18 B.19 B.20 B.21 B.22 B.23 B.24 B.25 B.26 B.27 B.28 B.29 B.30 B.31 B.32 C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 17 Notebooks B.33 B.34 ‘23 October 1985 - December 1987. No.26. ‘Spring 2. Wytham Woods’, 11 April 1944 - 21 August 1947. B.35, B.36 Precis Notebooks. B.35 B.36 B.37 B.38 ‘Dec. 1921 to Dec. 1922’. Notes on the literature and meetings No.2. including Oxford Entomological Society and British Association. In use c.1923-25. No.4. Oxford miscellaneous information and ideas. Society, Bird Notes on theliterature, meetings including Association, Society and British Ecological ‘Corpus Christi College [Oxford] Garden Book’, February 1938 - August 1945. Elton resigned from the Garden Mastership on 23 May 1945 but agreed to continue until 1 October 1945. A carbon of Elton’s letter of resignation is enclosed at the front of the notebook. Early notebook, probably predating B.1, containing drawings and watercolours of fungi. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 18 SECTION C EXPEDITIONS C.1-C.57 C.1-C.6 C.1-C.3 Spitsbergen 1921. Account (prepared by Elton 1978-83) of the 1921 Oxford University expedition to Spitsbergen. Elton’s foreword (dated 1983) explains the background: This Expedition wasthe first of three ventures from Oxford to the They later Spitsbergen archipelago (now known as Svalbard). inspired the foundation of the Oxford University Exploration Club in 1927. The Club undertook further expeditions to Spitsbergen, to other countries in the Arctic, and to manyin lowerlatitudes. It is But no general account of the 1921 still (1983) very active. Expedition was ever published. | have written these notesin order to bring together as muchaspossible into one account, since most of the information, quite extensive in scopeis to be found in widely scattered publications, or has not been publishedatall. The main theme in these Notes is the wide ecological survey doneby V.S. Summerhayes and myself, but | have included remarks about other general aspects of the Expedition’s work, with references by which anyonecanfind out morefully about them. It has not been easy to track down the biological work done by other expeditions since | have then, as that also has appeared in a very scattered form. noted such information as is known to me, and seemsrelevant to the extension or the interpretation of our ownfield studies. This account is therefore both a direct source of information, and a guide to many other sources, and certainly to all important work of the Expeditionitself. Elton prepared three typescript copies of his account, eachin three ring- bound volumes, two copies for deposit in the Norsk Polar Institutt, Oslo and the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK, respectively. The third (and original), which he retained in his own possession during his lifetime, is presented here. Foreword, list of contents, list of photographs; part 1: pp.1-63. Part 2: pp.64-119. Part 3: pp.120-180. Lists of equipment. Field notes made from Bergen to Troms¢, 2-7 June 1921. C.1 C.2 C.3 C.4 C.5 C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 19 Expeditions C.6 Elton’s abstract from F.C.R. Jourdain’s manuscript diary of the 1921 expedition. The original is in the Edward GreyInstitute Library, Oxford. C.7, C.8 Spitsbergen 1923. C.7 C.8 Hardback notebook ‘SZ 5’ used by Elton for diary of expedition, 14 July - 5 September 1923. Paginated 1-281. List of equipment enclosedat rear. Volume(in ring binder) of text (28 July 1923 only) and photographs with Includes list of expedition captions, prepared by Elton c.1978-83. members. C.9-C.13 Spitsbergen 1924. C.9 C.10 C.11 C.12 C.13 Hardback notebook ‘SZ 7’ used by Elton for diary of expedition, 14 June - Enclosed at front is a note that his 16 July 1924. account of the journey, from Troms# home in 1923 ‘SZ VI’ was ‘NOT KEPT’. Paginated 1-141. Hardback notebook ‘SZ 8’ used by Elton for diary of expedition, 16 July - 9 August 1924. Paginated 1-141. Enclosed at front is correspondence 1924 from T.G. Longstaff and 1980 with G. Macfarlane re his biography of H.W.Florey. Longstaff was a memberof the 1921 and 1923 expeditions; Florey was Medical Officer in 1924. Hardback notebook ‘SZ 9’ used byEltonfor diary of expedition, 9 August- 18 September 1924. Paginated 1-219 (not all used). Enclosedat front are notes of the fauna of the hold of the expedition ship Polarbjorn, 22 and 26 June 1924. Bound volume comprising ‘Diary of C.S.E. while on the Oxford University Arctic Expedition 1924’. Typescript with maps, plan of base camp etc. drawnby Elton. Inscribed ontitle page ‘A personal version taken from the full diary, and given to my Mother’. Volume (in ring binder) of text and photographs with captions, prepared by Elton c.1978-83. C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 20 Expeditions C.14-C.20 General Spitsbergen material. C.14 C.15 C.16 C.17 Contents include ‘Newspaper cuttings’ book. correspondencevarious dates, 1921-32 and 1979-83, data, notes on the literature, printed material. With contents list. Correspondence 1972-73, 1980. Binney, expedition organiser and leader. Principally re obituary of Sir George Correspondence 1979-85. Principally re Elton’s preparation of narrative accounts of Spitsbergen expedition. Brief correspondence 1979-80 re later Oxford University Spitsbergen expedition. C.18, C.19 Photographs. 2 folders. C.20 C.21 Album of photographs from the three Spitsbergen expeditions, compiled by Elton for his mother. Canada 1928. ‘Reportof research work in Canada’, with covering letter to Hudson’s Bay Company, 28 November 1928. Pages torn from jotter used by Elton for daily record, general notes on visit. C.22, C.23 Lapland 1930. C.22 C.23 Hardback notebook ‘SZ 10’ used for Vol.I of diary of Oxford University Paginated 1-139. Lapland expedition, 28 June - 21 August 1930. Enclosed at front is correspondence 1945 with Norwegian memberof expedition, correspondence 1977 with Scott Polar ResearchInstitute re preparing copy of diary for its archives and notes prepared by Elton to Enclosed at back are ‘Remaining pages which accompany the copy. formed Vol.ll (SZ 11)’, 22-26 August 1930 paginated 1-18. Volume(in ring binder) of text and photographs with captions, prepared by Elton c.1977. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 21 Expeditions C.24 North America 1938. Typescript diary of visit to Canada and USA, 29 August - 17 October 1938. 36pp. C.25-C.32 Denmark Visits to Mols laboratory and nature reserve, near Femméller, Jutland 1953, 1959, 1962. C.25-C.28 Photograph albums. C.25 C.26 C.27 C.28 C.29 C.30 C.31 C.32 1953. 1959 (1). 1959 (2). 1962. Hardback notebookusedfor diary of visit to Mols, 19 May - 5 June 1953. Paginated 1-80. Soft cover notebook usedfor diary of visit to Mols, 8-22 May 1959. Soft cover notebook usedfor diary of visit to Mols, 14-23 September 1962. Map of Mols nature reserve. C.33-C.37 South America 1965. C.33-C.35 Typescript diary with photographs of journeys in the WestIndies, Brazil and Colombia, 11 June - 27 July 1965. 103pp + notes. 3 folders. C.36 C.37 Travel arrangements and funding. Photograph album. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 22 Expeditions C.38-C.43 The Americas 1968. C.38 C.39 C.40, C.41 C.40 C.41 C.42 Hardback notebookused for ‘Diary Belém [Brazil] 21 July 1968 to Barro Colorado |. Panama Canal Zone to Washington D.C. 14 Aug.’ Spiral back notebooklabelled ‘Belém S. America 1968. Notes dictated to J.E. [Mrs Joy Elton] by C.S.E.’. ‘Report by Mr Charles S. Elton on a research tour in the Americas while a Visiting Fellow to the SmithsonianInstitution in 1968’. 108pp typescript + notes and photographs, memorabilia, correspondence,plant specimens. In two binders. Part 1 pp.1-63. USA - Brazil, 21 April - 1 June 1968. Enclosedat front are 4pp typescript headed ‘Terry (T.D.) Pennington’ and letter from Pennington at Belém, Brazil, 24 October 1965. Part 2 pp.64-108. Enclosed at front are manuscript notes: ‘Belem 1968 Chronology index’, ‘Belem 1968 Operations index’, etc. Enclosed at the back are plant specimens. ‘B[arro]C[olorado]l[sland] Brasil 1968 Memos & Joy’s [Mrs Elton’s] notes’. ‘Animal habitats and numbersin rain- Contents of binder so inscribed: forest’, ‘The significance of animal coverin biological surveys’, ‘Provisional note on the field layer in Mucambo Forest’, etc. C.43 Travel arrangements, funding. C.44-C.46 Panama and Montserrat 1970. C.44 C.45 C.46 Diary of journey to Panamaand the WestIndies, 1 October - 28 November 1970. 51pp typescript + notes and photographs. In binder. Copyof preceding with ‘Joy’s [Mrs Elton’s] notes’ and plant specimens but without many of the photographs. In binder. Travel arrangements, funding. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 23 Expeditions C.47-C.50 Panama and Montserrat 1973. C.47 C.48 C.49 C.50 Diary of journey to Panama and the WestIndies, 1 April - 23 May 1973. 60pp typescript + notes and photographs, memorabilia and a little correspondence. Copy of preceding with Mrs Elton’s notes but without many of the photographs. little correspondence enclosedatfront. Photographs and specimensof flowers, fruits and leaves. In ring binder. Travel arrangements, funding. C.51-C.57 Soft cover notebooks used, with two exceptions (C.54, C.57), for lists of photographs taken on expeditions to the Americas. C.51 C.52 C.53 C.54 C.55 C.56 C.57 West Indies and South America 1965. Vol.I. 1965. Vol.Il. 1968. ‘Joy [Mrs Elton] Field Notes at Belem May 1968’. Panama and Caribbean 1970. Panama and Caribbean 1973. 1973. Lists of clothes, equipment, maps, travel documents,etc. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 24 SECTION D FIELDWORK AND SURVEYS D.1-D.18 D.1 Leckford Ecology Survey 1938-39. Contents of Elton’s binder: copy of report on soil survey of Leckford Estate 1932; correspondence various dates 1936-68; field records 1938-39. The field records are introduced by anhistorical note by Elton: Mr J. Spedan Lewis of Leckford, Hampshire, gave the Bureau [of Animal Population] a donation of £400, and asked in return that we should try and do some ecological research on his estate. The moneyactually was used to support D.H. Chitty’s vole research(at Lake Vrynwy, etc.) but C.S. Elton and his wife, Mrs E J. Elton, undertook some periodic visits (19 February, 1938 to 1 April, 1939) This was a mile-long double hawthorn hedge to Sheep Drove. flanked in places by other scrub, with arable fields outside and a All on chalk, except where it wide green trackway inside. debouchedonto a gravel area with scrub at the N. end. The Survey was an experimentin finding out if a useful community study could It is be done bycollecting certain groups of animals selectively. still (1956) the only serious vertebrate and invertebrate animal ecological study ever made on the hedge system which covers It was never completed, mainly thousands of miles of England. becauseof the approach of War, and current vole researchin 1939. Mostof its useable specimens and records are being incorporated into the Ecological Survey of the Bureau, since few local data on hedge communities exist so far. D.2-D.11 Ash Bark Beetle Survey. D.2 D.3 Bindercontaining records of Elton’s research in Wytham Woodsandat the Bureau of Animal Population on the ash bark beetle (Hylesinus fraxini), 1948-53. The first entry for 6 July 1948 explains how Elton cameto beinvolved in a quantitative research on the Hylesinusfraxini. Binder inscribed on spine ‘C.E[Iton] log work’ and containing ‘Ken Marsland’s notes’ on the ash bark beetle: notes on the literature, records of work, 1961-64, analysis of earlier work, 1949-50. Marsland wasElton’s laboratory technician. D.4-D.8 D.9 Experimental records. 5 folders. Correspondence, 1949-64. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 25 Fieldwork and Surveys D.10 D.11 ‘Bark beetle talk’, 11 October 1950. Bibliographical references. D.12-D.18 Photograph albums. D.12 ‘B.A.P. General Ecology CN 201/6/1’. Locations include Leckford, Wytham Woods, and Denmark. 1927, 1938, 1946-51. D.13 ‘B.A.P. General Ecology CN 201/6/2’. Mainly Nature Conservancy areas. 1948, 1954-57. ‘B.A.P. General Ecology CN 201/6/3’. Locations include Wychwood Forest, Wytham Woodsetc. 1958-63. ‘General 3. Nature ConservancyVisits 1956-57’. ‘General Photos 5. Habitats’. 1957-60. ‘General Photos 6. Habitats (including some Nature Conservancyvisits) 1961-62. Also (at end) Walberswick 1961’. ‘Wytham Area Habitats’. 1955, 1958-61. D.15 D.16 D.17 D.18 C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 SECTION E CORRESPONDENCE E.1, E.2 Crowcroft, P.W. 26 E.1-E.78 1980-90 Crowcroft camefrom the University of Tasmania to research at the Bureau of Animal Population, 1949-51. He was the author of a history of the Bureau, E/ton’s Ecologists (Chicago University Press, 1991). Much of the correspondencerelates to the preparation of the history. 2 folders. 1980, 1982-83. Includes outline of proposedhistory andlist of ‘illustrations in hand’. 1985-90. Downs, W.G. re tropical ecology. Duffey, E.A.G. 1965-66, 1970-71 1983, 1987 E.1 E.2 E.3 E.4 Duffey came from Leicester University to research at the Bureau of Animal Population, 1950-52. He subsequently made his career with the Nature Conservancy. ES Elton, R.A. 1971-72 Elton’s son Robert, a medical statistician working at the MRC Virology Unit, Glasgow. re statistical advice on tropical ecology paper. E.6 Foster, R. 1971-73 re tropical ecology. E.7-E.9 Kalabukhov,N.I. 1943-45, 1972-78, 1983-90 Kalabukhovwasa distinguished Russian ecologist who workedextensively Elton corresponded and exchanged publications with on rodents. Kalabukhov from about 1932 and the surviving letters are probably only a small part of the correspondence exchanged. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 27 Correspondence E.7 E.8 E.9 E.10 1943-45. re wartime exchange of reprints, Elton’s monograph Voles, mice and lemmings. 1972-78. Includes Elton’s recommendation of Kalabukhov for appointment to Honorary Fellowship of the Zoological Society of London, 1975. 1983, 1986-90. Kaplan, C. re virus matters in wild small rodents. 1980 Kawanabe, H. 1978, 1980, 1984-91 Kawanabewasbasedat the Department of Zoology, Kyoto University, and translated a numberof Elton’s books into Japanese. E.12, E.13 Miller, R.E. 1969-86 Richard Elton Miller was the son of Elton’s colleague R.S. Miller (see below). E.12 E.13 1969-73. 1974-79, 1984, 1986. E.14-E.53A Miller, R.S. 1951-89 Miller came from the University of Colorado, Boulder to do D.Phil. research at the Bureau of Animal Population underElton’s supervision, 1949-51. He was awarded a research grant from the Nature Conservancy to work as Elton’s research assistant on an investigation of animal communities in the Oxford area, 1951-52. He returned to Oxford to work at the Bureau, 1963- Miller made his career at the University of Saskatchewan and Yale 64. where he becameProfessor of Wildlife in the Yale School of Forestry in 1967. Research and career. 41 folders. C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 28 Correspondence E.14-E.18 ‘Notes passed between C.E. and R. Miller in 1951 while collaborating on a paper “The ecological survey of animal communities”, J.Ecol., 1954.’ Elton’s folder so inscribed divided into five for ease of reference. E.14 E.15 E.16 September, October 1951. November 1951. December 1951, ‘Summer’ 1952. E.17, £.18 Undated drafts. 2 folders. E.19 1952 June-December. Thefirst letter from Elton to Miller after Miller’s return to the USA opens ‘This is the beginning of that remarkable with the following declaration: monthly series of letters to which our biographers will pay tribute, and which will mark the beginning of a further upward spiral of fertility in ecology’. E.20 E.21 E.22 E.23 E.24 E.25 E.26 E.27 E.28 E.29 1953 January-March. 1953 April-June. 1953 July-December. 1954 January-May. 1954 August-December. 1955 January-June. 1955 July-December. 1956 February-May, August. 1957 January-June. 1958 January-November. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 29 Correspondence 1959 January-October, 1960 November. 1961 May-December. 1962 January-March, August, September. 1963 January-August. 1964 February-April, September-December. 1965 March-June, November, December. 1966 January-October. 1967 January-May, September, December. 1968 March-September. 1969 March-December. 1970 January, August, September. 1971 January-November. 1972. 1973 February-November. 1974. Includes photographs. 1975 January-September. 1976 February-December. 1977 February-October. E.30 E.31 E.32 E.33 E.34 E.35 E.36 E.37 E.38 E.39 E.40 E.41 E.42 E.43 E.44 E.45 E.46 E.47 C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 30 Correspondence 1978 February-December. 1979 February, May, November. 1980 January-September. 1981 January-November. 1982-83. 1984-89. E.48 E.49 E.50 E.51 E.52 E.53 E.53A Curriculum vitae, miscellaneous biographical information. E.54-E.60 Overgaard Nielsen, C. 1952-67 Overgaard Nielsen came from Denmark to research at the Bureau of Animal Population, 1950-52. He madehis career at the Molslaboratoriet, Femméiler which Elton visited in 1953, 1959 and 1962. See C.25-C.31. Research, visits. 7 folders. 1952 April-November. 1953 June-December. 1954. 1955. 1956-58. 1959-61. 1962-65, 1967. E.54 E.55 E.56 E.57 E.58 E.59 E.60 C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 31 Correspondence E.61-E.63 Park, T. various dates 1957-90 Park came from the University of Chicago to research at the Bureau of Animal Population, 1948-49, and madehis career in the Department of Zoology at Chicago. E.61 E.62 Research, publications, personalhistory. 3 folders. 1957, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1975. ‘Recollections of Ocean Springs, 1911-1919’. 33pp typescript narrative account of Park’s childhood in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, sent to Elton in 1982. E.63 1987, 1989-90. Includes preface, introduction and table of contents only of transcript of Park’s reminiscences for Oral History Program of University of Chicago Archives, and Park’s foreword to P.W. Crowcroft’s history of the Bureau of Animal Population, E/ton’s Ecologists. E.64 E.65 Prus, T. Robinson, M.H. 1971, 1989 1966, 1968-73, 1978 Robinson was based at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. 1966 item is Elton’s notes of lecture by Robinson at Oxford Zoological Departmentonlife in Panama monsoonforest. E.66 Rubinoff, |. 1982 Rubinoff was Director of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. E.67 Rzoska, J. 1969 Rzéska came from the University of Poznan and worked at the Bureau of Animal Population, 1940-46. He was subsequently a scientific coordinator with the International Council of Scientific UnionsInternational Biological Programme. re ecological rules in the managementof nature. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 32 Correspondence E.68, E.69 Schindler, J.E. 1965-84 Schindler came from North Dakota State University in 1966 to research at the Bureau of Animal Population. He returned to the USAto a postat the University of Georgia. Research and career. 2 folders. E.68 1965, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1979. Includes a paper on ‘Charles Elton’s influence on the balance of nature concept’ prepared by one of Schindler’s graduate students and sent to Elton in 1979. E.69 1980-84. E.70-E.72 Trapido, H. 1964-70. Trapido came from the Rockefeller Foundation to research at the Bureau of Animal Population, 1962-64. He returned to the Rockefeller Foundation laboratory at Cali, Colombia, subsequently moving to the Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. Elton visited Colombia in 1965. See C.33-C.37. Research, visit, career. 3 folders. 1964-65. 1965-67. 1968-70, nd. E.70 E.71 E.72 E.73-E.75 The Wildlife Trust 1977-78, 1981 Correspondence with M.A. Ogilvie and M. Owen of the Wildlife Trust, Slimbridge re barnacle geese project including studies in Svalbard (Spitsbergen). 3 folders. E.73 1977 March,April. Includes background papers. C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 Correspondence E.74 1977 August, November. Includes background papers. E.75 E.76 1978, 1981. Woodall, J.P. 33 , 1971-72 Woodall was based at the Yale Arbovirus Research Unit, Yale University Medical School. re tropical field work. E.77, E.78 Shorter scientific correspondence, 1969-91. E.77 E.78 1969-74. 1975-91. C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 34 INDEX OF CORRESPONDENTS AITKEN, Thomas H.G. AMERICAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AMERICAN ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ZOOLOGISTS ARCHIBALD, J.F. ARMSTRONG, Patrick H. BALACHOWSKY,Alfred BAYLIS, H.A. BERTRAM, George Colin Lawder BINNEY,Sir George BREKKE, Anne BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION BRITISH ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY E.77 A.10 A.10 A.11 A.13 A.63, A.64 E.78 D.9 C.14 C.16 A.2 C.16 E.77 A.10 BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY) C.14, C.48 BROOKE WORTH,C. BRUNET,Peter BUXTON, P.A. CARPENTER, G.H. CARSON, RachelL. CHAPMAN, JohnA. CHICAGO ACADEMYOF SCIENCES CHITTY, Dennis Hubert COOKE, Alan CROWCROFT,Peter W. DAVIS, Michael DAVIS, Valerie DIVER, Cyril DOWNS,Wilbur G. DRAYTON,Paul K. C.36 A.79 A.8 C.14 A.72 D.9 AQ A.75, E.77 C.15, E.78 E.1, E.2 D.9 A.41 A.30, A.61 E.3 E.77 C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 35 Index of Correspondents DUFFEY,Eric Arthur Gerald DUNCAN, Arthur B. EAGLE, Raymond ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA ELTON, Geoffrey York ELTON, Leonard Sidgwick ELTON,Letitia Maynard ELTON,Oliver ELTON, Robert A. EVANS,Francis C. FAGER, ‘Bill’ FOSTER, Robin FREDGA,Karl GARNHAM, Percy Cyril Claude GIMINGHAM, Charles Henry GJELSVIK, Tore HANSON, Herbert Swann HOAR, William S. A.55,.E.4 A.62 C.16 A.10, A.13, E.78 A.16-A.22 A.30 A.15 A.14, A.37 E.6 A.46 See A.41, A.46 E.5 E.78 A.53 A.10 C.16 D.9 A.28 HOLLAND, Clive A. HOLM, Ake HOWICK OF GLENDALE, Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron C.16, C.22 C.14 A.62 HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY HUTCHINSON, George Evelyn INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGY KALABUKHOV,N.I. KAPLAN, Colin KAWANABE, Hiroya KINGSLAND, Sharon E. A.2 See also A.80, C.21 A.55 A.13 A.30, A.41, E.7-E.9 E.10 A.41, E.11 E.78 C.S. Elton NCUACS 39/1/93 36 Index of Correspondents LESLIE, Patrick Holt (George) LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON LITTLE, T.W.A. LOCKET, George Hazelwood LONGSTAFF, Tom LUBIN, Yael McCABE, Robert A. MATHISEN, Einar METHUEN & CO. LTD. MICHELMORE, Alfred Philip Galabin MILLER, Richard Elton MILLER, Richard S. MOORE, Norman Winfrid MORRELL, Jack MORRISON, Herbert MOYNIHAN, Martin H. NATURE CONSERVANCY NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY NICHOLSON, Edward Max NORSK POLARINSTITUTT O’FARRELL,AF. OGILVIE, Malcolm A. OLMSTED, Charles E. OVERGAARD NIELSEN, Christian OWEN, Myrfyn PARK, Thomas PAVIOUR-SMITH, Kitty (Mrs H.N. Southern) PENNINGTON, T.D. POMERAT,Gerard R. PORT OF LONDON HEALTH AUTHORITY PRUS, Tadeusz D.9 A.10 A.53 D.1 See C.14 E.78 A.37 C.22 A.27, A.29 C.14 E.12, E.13 E.14-E.53 D.1 A.41 A.61 C.46, C.50 A.60-A.68, D.1 A.3 A.61, A.63, A.72 C.16 A.46 E.73 A.10 E.54-E.60 E.73-E.75 E.61-E.63 A.41 C.40 C.36 A.76 E.64 C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 37 Index of Correspondents RAND, Pat RAND, Stanley REIMERS,Eigil REMMERT, Hermann RIDLEY, Matt RIPLEY,S. Dillon ROBINSON,MichaelHill ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION ROYAL SOCIETY RUBBER TRADE ASSOCIATION RUBINOFF,Ira RZOSKA, Julian SCHINDLER, James Edward SCOTT POLAR RESEARCHINSTITUTE SCOTT,William B. SHOPE, RobertE. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SMITHSONIAN TROPICAL RESEARCHINSTITUTE SPEDAN LEWIS, J. SUMMERHAYES, Victor Samuel SUTTON,StephenL. TATTERSALL, W.M. TAYLOR, Lionel Roy THOMPSON, David THOMPSON,HarryV. TINBERGEN, Nikolaas TISCHLER, Wolfgang TRAPIDO, Harold VALENTINE, Barry D. VEVERS, Henry Gwynne C.47 C.41 C.16 C.14 C.17 A.12, C.40, C.43 E.65 C.36 C.46, C.50 C.14 E.66 E.67 E.68, E.69 C.22 A.28 C.36, E.70, E.76 A.12, C.40, C.43 C.46, C.47, C.50 E.65, E.66, E.78 D.1 C.14 E.78 C.14 E.78 E.78 A.73 See also A.53 E.77 E.78 E.70-E.72 C.41 E.8 C.S. Elton NCUACS39/1/93 38 Index of Correspondents WELLS, A.F. WHELDON & WESLEYLIMITED THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY THE WILDLIFE TRUST WILSON, Edward Osborne WOLFF, Jerry WOODALL,John (Jack)P. WORTHINGTON, EdgarBarton A.8 A.26 AQ E.73-E.75 A.72 E.78 E.76 A.63
ELTON, Charles Sutherland
Published: 16 January, 2024 Author: admin