Karl Patterson (K.P.) Schmidt was a world-renowned herpetologist and curator with The Field Museum from 1922 until 1957. He began his career as assistant curator of reptiles and amphibians, eventually becoming chief curator of zoology in 1941. Among his numerous honors, Schmidt was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1932, and elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1956. Over the course of his career, Schmidt named more than 200 species of reptiles and amphibians; Many scientists named species and subspecies of reptiles and amphibians for Schmidt.
While the manner of Schmidt's death added to his legend and was sensationalized in local papers and around the world (detailed briefly below), a lesser-known story about collecting a crocodile specimen while on expedition in Belize is equally incredible. Schmidt describes wading into a swamp and wrestling an injured 5'3" crocodile to shore in this passage from Crocodile Hunting in Central America. Chicago: Chicago Natural History Museum Press, 1952:
Fearing that we would lose the only good-sized crocodile we had seen, I made a despairing grab for his eyes with thumb and finger. This proved to be a decidedly effective hold, for I had no difficulty in carrying him ashore. Changing my hold to the front of his jaws almost proved disastrous, for although it was easy to hold the jaws shut, he was able to twist over and over with astonishing rapidity, necessitating equally rapid changes of hands on his snout to avoid laceration by the sharp projecting teeth.
On September 25, 1957, the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo sent a snake to The Field Museum for identification. Schmidt concluded that based on the snake's behavior, it was a boomslang, native to Sub Saharan Africa. After taking the snake from a colleague without precautions to prevent a bite, Schmidt was bitten on the thumb. The venom of the boomslang is a hemotoxin, which means that it disrupts blood coagulation in humans; essentially, as the venom spreads it causes fibrinogen in the bloodstream to form clots. The fibrinogen is then not available to stop bleeding. This leads to bleeding in major internal organs and possibly death. Schmidt did not seek medical attention, but kept a journal of the symptoms he experienced, recording all of the effects of the bite in graphic detail. Within 24 hours, Schmidt was pronounced dead. A transcript of his journal was published by the Chicago Tribune in an article titled "Diary of Snakebite Death!" on October 3rd, 1957.
Field Museum Resources & Publications
More than 100 books, chapters, and journal articles by and about K.P. Schmidt are freely available on Internet Archive as well as via the Biodiversity Heritage Library website, here.
Annual Reports
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1922 p. 87
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1923 p. 209
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1926 pp. 67-70
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1928 pp. 392, 398, 450
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1929 pp. 81-85
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1931 p.12, 38, 48, 58-59, 95, 102-103, 202, 218,
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1932 p. 102
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1933 p. 66
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1934 p. 209
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1935 pp. 306, 344
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1936 p. 30
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1937 pp. 176, 218-219,
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1938 p. 331, 338
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1940 p. 194
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1941 p. 16
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1955 p. 32
- Annual Report of the Director to the Board of Trustees for the year 1957 pp. 33, 71
Databases
Newsletters
Mr. Schmidt typically wrote a paragraph near the beginning of most of these newsletters, and in later issues his book reviews appeared near the end of each newsletter.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson. "Banana Waifs" Field Museum News 1, no. 3, March 1930. p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson. "Frog Voices in Spring" Field Museum News 1, no. 5, May 1930, p.3.
- "New Snake Discovered" Field Museum News 1, no. 6, June 1930, p.2.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson. "Giant Prehensile-Tailed Skink on Exhibition" Field Museum News 1, no. 10, Oct 1930, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson. "Exhibit of the Dragon Lizard of Komodo-Chancellor-Stuart Expedition" Field Museum News 2, no. 2, Feb. 1931. p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson. "The Reticulated Python Added to Exhibits" Field Museum News 2, no. 6, June 1931. p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson. "Missionaries and Museums" Field Museum News 2, no. 8, Aug. 1931. p 3
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson. "Lizards by Parcel Post" Field Museum News 2, no. 10, Oct. 1931. p.3.
- "K.P. Schmidt Awarded Fellowship" Field Museum News 3, no. 4, April 1932, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "American Alligator with Nest of Eggs Placed on Exhibition in Harris Hall" Field Museum News 3, no. 6, June 1932. p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Turtles of the Chicago Area" Field Museum News 4, no. 8, Aug. 1933. p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Limbless Lizards and Snakes with Legs" Field Museum News 4, no. 10, Oct. 1933, p.1.
- "Mandel Guatemala Expedition Achieves Notable Success" Field Museum News 5, no. 8, Aug. 1934, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "The Circus Lizard" Field Museum News 7, no. 6, June, 1936, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Cave Salamanders" Field Museum News 7, no. 7, July 1936, p.3.
- "Staff Notes" Field Museum News 9, no. 4, April 1938, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "The Horned Crocodile of Western Colorado" Field Museum News 9, no. 11, Nov. 1938 p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Animal Life in Air Plants" Field Museum News 10, no. 1, Jan. 1939 p.7
- B.P., "Expedition Departs to Collect Fauna of South America's Farthest Area" Field Museum News 10, no. 7, July 1939, p.
- Gregg, Clifford, "Television an Ideal Educational Medium for Future" Field Museum News 11, no. 5, May 1940, p.3.
- Osgood, Wilfred, "The Magellanic Expedition" Field Museum News 11, no. 6, June, 1940, pg.7.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Live Snakes Travel by Express in Special Pullmans" Field Museum News 11, no. 12, Dec. 1940, p.3.
- "Karl Schmidt is New Zoology Chief" Field Museum News 12 no. 1, Jan. 1941, p.1.
- "A Zoological Field Trip to Arkansas and Texas" Field Museum News 12, no. 5, May 1941, p.5.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson, "Crocodiles, Perilously Collected by Hunters in a Canoe, now Exhibited" Field Museum News 12, no. 9, Sept. 1941, p.1.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson, "How Loggerhead Turtles Lay Eggs on Moonlight Florida Beaches in June" Field Museum News 13, no. 4, April 1942, p. 1.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson, "Islands that Bound the Coral Sea are Represented in Museum Exhibits" Field Museum News 13, no. 7, July 1942, p.1.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson, "Fifty Years of Zoology" Field Museum News 14, no. 9-10, Sept.-Oct. 1943, p. 20.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Museum Science and Geography" Field Museum News 14, nos. 9-10, Sept.-Oct. 1943, p. 34
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Strange Sights, Both Living and Inanimate, Found on Desert Highway in Peru" Field Museum News 12, no. 12, Dec. 1943, p.3
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Some Land Animals of Bermuda" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 15, nos. 1-2, Jan.-Feb. 1944, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Some Solomon Islanders" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 15, nos. 3-4, March-April, 1944, p.7.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Remarkable Changes in Fish Coloration Demonstrated in Exhibit" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 15, nos. 5-6, May-June, 1944. p.1.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "In Inland Chicago- The Whales of all the World's Seas and Oceans" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 16, nos. 7-8, July-Aug. 1945. p.1.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Domestic Pigeons, Darwin's Aids in Research On The Origin Of Species" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 16, nos. 11-12, Nov.-Dec. 1945. p.1.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Whales and Man" Chicago Natural History Bulletin 18, no. 1, Jan. 1947. p.2.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Pangolins, Tarsiers, and Flying Lemurs of Philippines" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 18, no. 7, July 1947. p.2.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Giant Galapagos Land Turtle, Terrapin of the Square-Rigger's Mess" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 18, no. 8, Aug. 1947, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Bermuda Deep-Sea Expedition to Begin Probing Ocean Floor Mysteries" Chicago Natural History Museum 19, no. 6, June, 1948, p.3.
- Inger, Robert F. "Trail of the Texas Barking Frog" Chicago Natural History Museum 19, no. 7, July, 1949 pp. 4-5.<
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Museum Acquires 18 Letters Written By Charles Darwin" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 20, no. 2, Feb. 1949 p.3.
- "A Glimpse of New Zealand" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 20, no. 4, April 1949 p. 3
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Naturalists' Calendars- The First Roots of Biology" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 21, no.1, Jan. 1950, p.3.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "A Naturalist's Excursion in Spessart Forest" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 21, no. 7, July, 1950, p.4.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Animal Introductions Upset Conservation" Chicago Natural History Museum 21, no. 10, Oct. 1950, p.5
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Fifty Years Ago-And Today-at the Museum" Chicago Natural History Museum 22, no. 9, Sep. 1951, pp. 4-5
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Some Lizards of Forest and Desert, and how they Live" Chicago Natural History Museum 23, no. 9, Sep. 1952 p.3.
- Tardy, Christine "'Extreme Adjustments Found in Chameleons'" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 24, no. 3, March 1953, p.5.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "The First Museums of Natural History" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 24, no. 11, Nov. 1953 p.2.
- Schmidt, Karl Patterson "Phragmosis:Animals with Built-In Doors" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 26, no. 3, March 1955, p.2.
- "Dr. Karl Schmidt Retires, Goes on with Research" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 26, no. 7, July 1955, p.2.
- "Karl P. Schmidt Elected to National Academy" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 27, no. 6, June 1956, p.8.
- R.F.I. "Karl Patterson Schmidt 1890-1957" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 28, no. 11, Nov. 1957, p.2
- "Endowment Fund Set Up as Schmidt Memorial" Chicago Natural History Museum Bulletin 29, no. 3, March, 1958, p. 8.