226 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1896. 



living on seventy cents a day. It was the custom of the proprietor 

 of the restaurant frequented by Ryder to put aside for him the oys- 

 ter shells, which, after each meal, were inspected for organisms. In 

 this way he discovered the sponge Camaraphysema. Doubtless the 

 work on the habits and food of the oyster, on which Ryder's fame in 

 a measure rests, began in these desultory studies. 



It was a time of formative plans. Among these may be recalled — 

 an educational scheme by which the teachers in the public schools 

 were to be prepared for imparting the elements of biology to their 

 pupils ; a course of popular lectures at the Wagner Institute ; and a 

 series of papers on natural history for a Philadelphia J)aper. None 

 of these came to anything. 



Such a life in a region of stores and warehouses is well enough dur- 

 ing the week. The days and nights are separated by the changes in 

 light — but not by changes in habit. But on Sunday the business part 

 of a city is but little better than a desert. Ryder was in the habit 

 of spending this day, when the season favored his so doing, in the 

 suburban districts, or in Fairmount Park. It was on such excur- 

 sions he discovered Scolopendrella and Eurypauropus. 



The previous education of Ryder was one inadequately qualifying 

 him for the career of a naturalist. This, indeed, is not less than that 

 required to equip a student for any intellectual career whatsoever. 

 How immense the labor when one is compelled to equip himself! The 

 naturalist must be a linguist (for there is scarcely a modern Euro- 

 pean language which may not possess a treasure for his needs) ; he 

 is all the better for being a draughtsman ; he should command a 

 good literary style ; he should be a mathematician and physicist. 

 Ryder, in these preparatory years, attempted all these things but the 

 last. His endeavors to acquire new languages and a good literary 

 style were unending. One of his favorite pastimes was to read an 

 essay of Addison twice and then write out the essay from memory. 

 He would then compare his sketch with the original. His tastes in 

 art were not formed, and he rarely alluded to the subjects embraced 

 among the humanities. 



Mr. W. P. Seal, the well-known aquarium expert, was of great 

 value to Ryder at this time in bringing him all the unusual speci- 

 mens he detected while making collections of fresh water fishes and 

 plants in the neighborhood of Philadelphia. At the end of his ser- 

 vice in the Academy, Ryder had contributed thirty-one papers, most 

 of which were based upon studies made in the Museum or on 

 low forms of life. 



