19 Facts About Elliott Coues

Elliott Ladd Coues was an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author.

Elliott Coues led surveys of the Arizona Territory, and later as secretary of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories.

Elliott Coues founded the American Ornithological Union in 1883, and was editor of its publication, The Auk.

Elliott Coues graduated at Columbian University, Washington, DC, in 1861, and at the medical school of that institution in 1863.

Elliott Coues edited its journal, The Auk, and several other ornithological periodicals.

Elliott Coues was lecturer on anatomy in the medical school of the Columbian University from 1877 to 1882, and professor of anatomy there from 1882 to 1887.

Elliott Coues was a careful bibliographer and in his work on the Birds of the Colorado Valley, he included a special section on swallows and attempted to resolve whether they migrated in winter or hibernated under lakes as was believed at the time:.

Elliott Coues was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1878.

Elliott Coues resigned from the army in 1881 to devote himself entirely to scientific research.

Elliott Coues requested that the new species be named after his 18-year-old sister, Grace Darling Coues, and his request was honored when Spencer Fullerton Baird described the species scientifically in 1865.

Elliott Coues took an interest in spiritualism and began speculations in Theosophy.

Elliott Coues was a friend of Alfred Russel Wallace and they had attended seances with the medium Pierre L O A Keeler.

Elliott Coues felt the inadequacy of formal orthodox science in dealing with the deeper problems of human life and destiny.

Elliott Coues claimed to have witnessed levitation of objects and developed a theory to explain the phenomenon, publishing an article about his telekinetic theory of levitation in the first issue of The Metaphysical Magazine.

Elliott Coues founded the Gnostic Theosophical Society of Washington, and in 1890 became the president of the Theosophical Society.

Elliott Coues later became highly critical of Blavatsky and lost interest in the Theosophical movement.

Elliott Coues fell out with Theosophical leaders such as William Quan Judge and was expelled from the Theosophical Society in June 1899 for "untheosophical conduct".

Elliott Coues retained interest in oriental religious thought and later studied Islam.

Elliott Coues contributed numerous articles to the Century Dictionary, wrote for various encyclopaedias, and edited:.