ABSTRACT This essay draws on correspondence between Smithsonian Institution curators and Edgar Alexander Mearns, an army surgeon who served in the Philippines during the first decade of the twentieth century, in order to explore ideas about loss in natural history collections. Beneath the appearance of abundance in these collections lies a constant concern with loss, not simply with the loss of specimens to spoil and slippage, but also with the loss of data and sometimes the loss of opportunities to acquire and describe new material. I explore the ways curators considered loss historically but also the ways that reconnecting natural history specimens and field books today offer possibilities for repairing some of these losses and more fully understanding the historical and cultural context of collection.

中文翻译：

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不仅仅是鸟类：国家自然历史博物馆的失落与重新联系

摘要 本文借鉴了史密森学会馆长与埃德加·亚历山大·梅恩斯（Edgar Alexander Mearns）之间的通信，埃德加·亚历山大·梅恩斯是 20 世纪头十年在菲律宾服役的陆军外科医生，旨在探讨有关自然历史收藏损失的想法。在这些藏品丰富的外表之下，隐藏着对丢失的持续关注，不仅是标本因损坏和滑落而丢失，而且还有数据的丢失，有时还会失去获取和描述新材料的机会。我探索策展人从历史上考虑损失的方式，以及重新连接今天的自然历史标本和实地书籍的方式，为修复其中一些损失和更全面地理解收藏的历史和文化背景提供了可能性。