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I looked for a discussion of the name rhami here but did not find one, so here goes:
In BOW and in Jobling's book the name is attributed to "Henri-Casimir de Rham (1785 - 1873) Swiss diplomat in United States, founder (1832) of the Swiss Benevolent Society in New York, businesssman, naturalist and collector."
Recently I was very fortunate to acquire a copy of one of the rarest books in the 19th century ornithological literature - A Description of Sixteen New Species of North American Birds, Described in the Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, Collected in Texas, 1838 by J. P. Giraud, published in 1841. In the book Giraud names a bird new to him as Musciapa derhamii (Slate-throated Redstart, Myioborus miniatus Swainson 1827.) He gives one line of explanation of his dedication - "This species I have named in memory of the lamented Cassimere H. Derham" (sic; he mangled the name.) Clearly Jobling's de Rham was not lamented in 1841 since he lived 30+ more years.
This particular copy had been in the de Rham family until it came to me, and it is accompanied by a presentation letter from Giraud to one of H.C. de Rham's sons, and the letter helps explain the confusion:
"Charles De Rham Esq.
Dear Sir,
The laudable exertion made by your deceased brother, for the advancement of this interesting branch of Natural History, has induced me to dedicate to his memory, a new species of Muscicapa.
Respectfully
JP Giraud.
Oct. 30th /41″.
So there was another H. C. de Rham, son of the first, who died young prior to 1841, and it was to him that the 'Musicapa' was dedicated. This made me wonder about the Lamprolaima, and on looking up Lesson's OD from 1839 in the Revue Zoologique I find:
"Dedicatus est dom. De Rham fils Americano..." Now I am not knowledgeable enough about Latin to know whether the reading should be "Dedicated to Mr. De Rham's American son" or "Dedicated to Mr. De Rham the younger, an American" but either way it seems that the son is the dedicatee, not the father.
Witmer Stone wrote a profile of Giraud in the Auk for 1919, and his only comment on the name was that de Rham was a member of the New York Lyceum of Natural History. In looking at the Annals of that organization, volume 5 (1852) I find the name listed as elected to membership in 1836 and marked deceased. So clearly the younger H.C. was the naturalist of the family.
I cannot find much more, if anything, on the younger H.C. except a reference that he died aged 22 in 1840 which I have not been able to verify. Perhaps those more skilled than me at this research can find out something about him, and particularly about the 'laudable exertion' he made in ornithology before (apparently) dying at the age of 22.
In BOW and in Jobling's book the name is attributed to "Henri-Casimir de Rham (1785 - 1873) Swiss diplomat in United States, founder (1832) of the Swiss Benevolent Society in New York, businesssman, naturalist and collector."
Recently I was very fortunate to acquire a copy of one of the rarest books in the 19th century ornithological literature - A Description of Sixteen New Species of North American Birds, Described in the Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, Collected in Texas, 1838 by J. P. Giraud, published in 1841. In the book Giraud names a bird new to him as Musciapa derhamii (Slate-throated Redstart, Myioborus miniatus Swainson 1827.) He gives one line of explanation of his dedication - "This species I have named in memory of the lamented Cassimere H. Derham" (sic; he mangled the name.) Clearly Jobling's de Rham was not lamented in 1841 since he lived 30+ more years.
This particular copy had been in the de Rham family until it came to me, and it is accompanied by a presentation letter from Giraud to one of H.C. de Rham's sons, and the letter helps explain the confusion:
"Charles De Rham Esq.
Dear Sir,
The laudable exertion made by your deceased brother, for the advancement of this interesting branch of Natural History, has induced me to dedicate to his memory, a new species of Muscicapa.
Respectfully
JP Giraud.
Oct. 30th /41″.
So there was another H. C. de Rham, son of the first, who died young prior to 1841, and it was to him that the 'Musicapa' was dedicated. This made me wonder about the Lamprolaima, and on looking up Lesson's OD from 1839 in the Revue Zoologique I find:
"Dedicatus est dom. De Rham fils Americano..." Now I am not knowledgeable enough about Latin to know whether the reading should be "Dedicated to Mr. De Rham's American son" or "Dedicated to Mr. De Rham the younger, an American" but either way it seems that the son is the dedicatee, not the father.
Witmer Stone wrote a profile of Giraud in the Auk for 1919, and his only comment on the name was that de Rham was a member of the New York Lyceum of Natural History. In looking at the Annals of that organization, volume 5 (1852) I find the name listed as elected to membership in 1836 and marked deceased. So clearly the younger H.C. was the naturalist of the family.
I cannot find much more, if anything, on the younger H.C. except a reference that he died aged 22 in 1840 which I have not been able to verify. Perhaps those more skilled than me at this research can find out something about him, and particularly about the 'laudable exertion' he made in ornithology before (apparently) dying at the age of 22.
