James Ellsworth De Kay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1792-10-12)October 12, 1792 Lisbon, Portugal |
| Died | November 21, 1851(1851-11-21) (aged 59) |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Notable work | Zoology of New York, or The New-York Fauna |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | zoology |
James Ellsworth De Kay (alternatively spelledDeKay orDekay) (October 12, 1792 – November 21, 1851) was an American zoologist.
James De Kay was born inLisbon, Portugal, in 1792. When he was two years old, his family moved toNew York; both his parents died while he was still quite young. He attendedYale from 1807 to 1812, but was expelled before completing his degree when he threatened a college tutor with a club. Later, he studied medicine at theUniversity of Edinburgh, receiving hisMD in 1819.
After his return to the United States, he married Janet Eckford, a daughter ofHenry Eckford, a ship builder. He then traveled with his father-in-law toTurkey as a ship's physician, and published a book,Sketches of Turkey in 1831 and 1832, about these travels. Although well received as an entertainingtravelogue, his book has been criticized as being very anti-Hellenic[1][2] as well as sometimes naive about Turkish customs.[3] He was entrusted by Eckford with negotiations withBrazil and otherSouth American powers, relative to the ships of war that had been ordered by the latter.[4] In 1830, he was elected into theNational Academy of Design as an honorary academician.
In 1833 his brother,George Coleman De Kay, married the only daughter of the poetJoseph Rodman Drake, and De Kay became familiar with Drake,Fitz-Greene Halleck,William Cullen Bryant, and other men of literature and science.
De Kay returned toOyster Bay, New York, giving up medicine for the study ofnatural history. On the outbreak ofcholera inNew York City, De Kay hastened to give his services to the afflicted, although the practice of his profession was repugnant to him. He became involved with the Geological Survey of New York,[5] initiated in 1835. As a result, from 1842 to 1844 he published the multi-volumeZoology of New York, or The New-York Fauna covering: mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and fish.[6] This work was illustrated by the British born American painterJohn William Hill.[7] Hill and De Kay spent much time in the field. By the end of April 1839, they had provided full descriptions and drawings for 700 of the nearly 2,300 animals they estimated to exist in New York, and begun rough descriptions of many more. In order to best represent the animals, Hill and De Kay early on decided to use acamera lucida for the rough drafts of the drawings.[8] Hill's drawings of birds for De Kay'sZoology of New York were significant in that they represented the first time hand-colored lithographs were used to illustrate a state bird book.
De Kay collected the first specimen of a species of small brown snake onLong Island, which was named for him asStoreria dekayi (Holbrook, 1836).[9] De Kay died at Oyster Bay in 1851.[10]
Historical species named after him includeDipleura dekayi,Eurypterus dekayi,Eutrephoceras dekayi,Mosasaurus dekayi, andTrimerus dekayi.
