From a German Storm to a German Sturm (1 Viewer)

[Björn Bergenholtz]

As we recently solved a German Storm I thought we might as well focus on a fellow Sturm … as in:

● Dwarf Bittern (Ardeirallus) Ixobrychus sturmii WAGLER 1827 a k a "African Dwarf Bittern" or "Rail Heron"

This species is usually attributed to the German naturalist, artist and illustrator (engraver) Johann Heinrich Christian Friedrich Sturm (1805–1862) … but do we really know he was the one intended? How do we know this sturmii is commemorating the above mentioned Mr. Sturm and not his younger brother Johann Wilhelm Sturm (1808–1865), ornithologist and botanist … or their even more well-known father; the German botanist, zoologist and entomologist Jakob Sturm (1771–1848)?!

All three was celebrated illustrators of both animals and flowers. Together they made thousands of illustrations in for example Deutschlands Flora and Deutschlands Fauna. If any of them ever went to West Africa I do not know.

In the type description (as "Ardea Sturmii”) nothing explicit is told, more than the (latin?) short note "Collect. dom. Sturm." (meaning?) Collector, Collection, collected by, or in the (Sturm) Collection? And what´s that dom. ? Is it related to domus, house?

Anyone know how it came to be precisely the former's Bittern?

The same scientific name also appear in:
● the Aracari sub-species Pteroglossus bitorquatus sturmii NATTERER 1843 (1842, years differ!) but if the description of that one (in Monographie der Rhamphastiden, mit Zusätzen und neuen Arten vermehrt nach Gould's Monograph of the Rhamphastiden Heft 3, Page 3, Plate 7 – a German translation (and expansion!) of Gould's A Monograph of the Ramphastidae, or Family of Toucans , made by Johann Heinrich Christian Friedrich Sturm and Johann Wilhelm Sturm) tell us anything more of precisely whom it is commemorating, I do not know either?

PS. Also compare with, for example:
● the Beetle's; Agabus sturmii GYLLENHAL 1808, Ischyropalpus sturmi LAFERTÉ-SÉNECTÈRE 1849 or Chelymorpha sturmii BOHEMAN 1854
● as well as the Spider Araneus sturmi HAHN 1831
● and the genus (of Flies) Sturmia ROBINEAU-DESVOIDY 1830
... and many, many other, but more recent, creatures named sturmi or sturmii. See ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System)

 

[l_raty]

In the type description (as "Ardea Sturmii”) nothing explicit is told, more than the (latin?) short note "Collect. dom. Sturm." (meaning?) Collector, Collection, collected by, or in the (Sturm) Collection? And what´s that dom. ? Is it related to domus, house?

[OD here].
I'd simply read it as "Collect[io] dom[ini] Sturm[ii]", "collection of Herr Sturm" (if you search the book for "domini", you'll find a sentence saying, in full, "Alia individua descripto simillima in collectione domini Fl. Présvost Parisiorum vidi": "I saw other individuals very similar to the one described in the collection of Monsieur Fl. Présvost of Paris"). To leave all the possibilities open, it could actually also be plural, we wouldn't see the difference with the abbreviations (dom[inorum] Sturm[iorum]: the collection of Messrs. Sturm).
Wagler cites the Sturm collection for at least 20 different species in this work, but all the citations are just this: simple citations. I went through the book's prologue as well, didn't see anything about any Sturm there.

[Here], it is said that "beyden Sohnen" (both sons) [...] "schon in früher Jugend vom Studium der Ornithologie angezogen wurden" (were attracted by the study of ornithology already in their early youth) and "sich eine herrliche Sammlung von Vögeln [...] angelegt haben" (have created for themselves a beautiful collection of birds). The author doesn't seem to suggest that the father was busy with birds at any point.

the Aracari sub-species Pteroglossus bitorquatus sturmii

This one is [here]. Watch out, the title you gave is not really correct, which makes the work hard to find. J. Gould's Monographie der Ramphastiden oder Tukanartigen Voegel. Aus dem Englischen übersetzt, mit Zusätzen und neuen Arten vermehrt. Apparently not paginated, plates numbered by hand: Pteroglossus sturmii is #XXVI. Beautiful book, btw.

Pteroglossus Sturmii. Natterer, im k. k. zoologischen Museum zu Wien.

"Pteroglossus Sturmii. Natterer, in the imperial and royal zoological museum in Vienna."
(This stands in the place where, for other species, the reference to the OD is given.)

"Der Entdecker dieses schönen Vogels hat uns die unverdiente Ehre erwiesen, demselben unsern Namen beizulegen, und uns dadurch um so mehr überrascht, als unsere schwachen Verdienste um die Ornithologie keine solche Auszeichnung verdienen."

"The discoverer of this nice bird has shown us the undeserved honour to adjoin our name to it, and thereby surprised us all the more, as our weak contribution to ornithology deserves no such distinction."
Both brothers were authors of this work, thus I presume that the "we", "us", and "our" are not royal plurals, and really refer to both of them. Yet the name is a singular sturmii nevertheless...
As a passing note, I strongly doubt that Natterer can be deemed the author of this name under the Code. The first quote above suggests that the only thing Natterer did (besides having found the bird) was to write "Pteroglossus Sturmii", presumably on the specimen's label, at the Vienna museum. Writing a name on a label does not fulfil any of the requirements for name availability; Natterer was not an author of this book, and the introducing text is signed "St.", which stands unquestionably for "Sturm". Thus I fear very much that it has to be "sturmii Sturm & Sturm".

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

We are well on our way!

Laurent, thanks for (ones again!) going that extra length on my behalf …

It sure made things a bit clearer!

And sorry about the erroneous title of the brother Sturm's book. I never looked at it myself (the Dwarf Bittern was the one I was checking out, as it is the only "Sturm-species" in my list of Common Swedish names). Regarding the Araçari sub-species Pteroglossus bitorquatus sturmii I simply trusted Zoonomen*:

Monogr.Ramphastid.[Sturm]

Monographie der Rhamphastiden, mit Zusätzen und neuen Arten vermehrt nach Gould's Monograph of the Rhamphastiden.

Sturm, Johann Heinrich Christian Friedrich, 1805-1862.
Sturm, Johann Wilhelm, 1808-1865.
Nürnberg, 1841-47.
sm. fol. 1 v.

Apparently I shouldn´t have done so!

You´re perfectly right (even if you did miss one little, in this specific matter, not unimportant, word ). I guess the proper title of this "Ornithologisches Prachtwerk" (Ornithological Work of Grandeur) ought to be:
● Sturm, J H C F & J W Sturm. 1841–1847. J. Gould's Monographie der Ramphastiden oder Tukanartigen Voegel / Aus dem Englischen übersetzt, mit Zusätzen und einigen neuen Arten vermehrt. Unpaginated Work, issued in Parts. Nürnberg, Germany.

*According to the same Zoonomen (Alan P. Peterson) the "Heft 3" (were he claim this Araçari is presented, on "Page 3, Plate 7") was published in 1843 (… even if I can´t find the citation he is referring to, on his own page!). Other, as well as several "heavy" Library sources, claim that Heft III was issued in 1842. Both Avibase and HBW goes for 1842, and I don´t know which one to trust. However, for my entry on Sturm (or maybe Sturm's) it´s a Minor matter, easy to avoid. That bibliographical fact (of Heft No. III) I gladly leave to someone more qualified.

In any case; in this we understand that the "Collect[io] dom[ini] Sturm[ii] " mean that neither Sturm collected the Type personally. It was simply present in that/his/their Collection. Natterer was the one that collected the Type, on the 22nd of January 1830 – in the virgin forests surrounding the village Borba, on the banks of the river Rio Madeira (one of the biggest tributaries of the Amazon river), South America. And the sentence (excellently found by Laurent, in the OD!): "Der Entdecker dieses schönen Vogels hat uns die unverdiente Ehre erwiesen, demselben unsern Namen beizulegen, …" ("The discoverer of this nice bird has shown us the undeserved honour to adjoin our name to it, … ") does indicate (in spite of the singular sturmii) that the name most likely was intended to commemorate more than one of the Sturm's. Presumably the two brothers (leaving the entomologist, their farther behind).

I can live with that simple explanation … there´s just too many birds to solve, to go the full length on every one of them. I don´t have neither time nor the linguistic skills to check them all (especially since I´m trying to uphold my ambition to finish my Swedish list this summer). Such praiseworthy, large-scale ambitions I leave to our friend Jobling.

The sturmii Araçari … over and out!

-------------------------
PS. Attached is the OD of "Sturm's Arassari" or "Pteroglossus Sturmii" (captal S). With its Plate (i. e. Plate XXVI … according to HBW!)

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Continuation ...

However; let´s return to the Dwarf Bittern (Ardeirallus) Ixobrychus sturmii …

Unregardless of whom-ever collected the Araçari. Who got hold of the sturmii Bittern?

Do we know of either one of the two Sturm brothers ever visited West Africa (Senegambia)?

Or did they assembled their "herrliche Sammlung" (beautiful collection) at home, in Nürnberg, Germany?

Was their "bug-bitten" father involved? Maybe he visited Africa? Even if ever so un-interested in Birds?

Do we know anything regarding who collected the Type of this "Ardea Sturmii”?

Anyone have any additional info?!

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Some little nagging ... or just being tedious

Still oneone know anything regarding by who, where and when, the Type of "Ardea Sturmii” was collected?

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Conclusion ...

As there seem to be no trace anywhere of whomever collected the Type of "Ardea Sturmii" in "Senegambia" I think we have to close this case here.

From what I can see we can´t, for sure, tell if sturmii , based on that short "Collect. dom. Sturm." (See Laurent's Post No. #2: In the Collection of, not collected by, an unspecified Sturm) in:

● Dwarf Bittern (Ardeirallus) Ixobrychus sturmii WAGLER 1827 a k a "African Dwarf Bittern" or "Rail Heron"
(● as well as the Aracari sub-species Pteroglossus bitorquatus sturmii [NATTERER alt. STURM & STURM] … based on "The discoverer of this nice bird has shown us the undeserved honour to adjoin our name to it, and thereby surprised us all the more, as our weak contribution to ornithology deserves no such distinction.")

… commemorate either one of, or both; the Sturm Brothers; either the German naturalist, artist and illustrator (engraver) Johann Heinrich Christian Friedrich Sturm (1805–1862) or/and his younger brother Johann Wilhelm Sturm (1808–1865), ornithologist and botanist. In spite of the singular sturmii (pressumably?) both! Custodians and care-takers of the vast Collection that initially included the Type(/s) specimen(s).

It could be worth adding that the Sturm brothers private collection included not less than 2700 specimen of 1700 "species" (in their time, that is) from all over the world + 77 nests with 1597 eggs of European Birds, and 75 nests, with 769 eggs, of various Non-European Birds. They also had 70 000 specimens of 23 000 species of insects [one of the largest private collections in Germany, basically assembled by their father Jakob Sturm (1771–1848)], and some 13 000 Land- and Fresh-water Shells and 2500 Marine Shells

Regarding the Aracari sub-species it could also be worth mentioning that the Sturm Collection included not less than 62(!) specimens of Ramphastidae! And it´s a known fact that Sturm bought some of those (as well as other Birds) from precisely Johann Natterer.

See the short note in: Miscellaneous. Dr. Sturm's Collection of Objects of Natural History in Nuremberg serie 3, vol. 16 (No. XCV): 377-378 (1863.). Link to full article (here) and the Verzeichniss meiner Insecten-Sammlung / gesammelt und herausgegeben von Iakob Sturm ; mit vier Kupfertafeln.

I´ve found no traces nor evidence that any of the Sturm Brothers, nor their father, ever having left Europe on any collecting trips of exotic birds. They [as well as their Grandfather, Johann Georg Sturm (1742–1793), also an acclaimed Natural History engraver] simply seem to have been too busy engraving, for various scientific works. And compiling, expanding, taking care of, this their Private "very first-rate scientific collection" in Nürnberg (Nuremberg), Germany.

Anyone disagree?

If not, I think this´ll have to do.

Sturm … over and out!