American Scientist

To the Editors:

For years I have been waiting with bated breath to see another rendering of the United States seal portraying a turkey instead of a bald eagle. Finally one actually did appear, with Catherine Raven's article on the national symbol, "Beauty Is Only Feather Deep" (Macroscope, September-October). About three decades ago, after a class lecture in which I mentioned Benjamin Franklin and his advocating the turkey as the national bird, one of my students made a sketch portraying Franklin's suggestion. Such a seal would certainly have put a quietus (perhaps even a Constitutional amendment) on Thanksgiving's traditional entrée.

Coincidentally, thinking about official symbols, originally Alaska's state bird was the raven, later changed to the willow ptarmigan.

Richard G. Beidleman
Pacific Grove, CA