106 THE NAUTILUS. 



ary 18, 1825, and died at his home in Penn Yan, N. Y., October 7, 

 1905. 



" At the age of twenty, while struggling to gain a livelihood from 

 the soil, the subject of this sketch had the fires of educational en- 

 thusiasm lighted. Two carpenters employed on the farm carried 

 books on astronomy and mathematics in their chests and brought 

 them out nights for study and discussion. Participation in this even- 

 ing and noon-hour work resulted in a fixed determination by the boy 

 to possess books of this character and to master them. Books ac- 

 companied him into the field ; when the horses were resting new 

 problems were fixed in the mind and when following the horses the 

 solutions were worked out mentally. 



" When added responsibilities began with wife and family, in- 

 creased effort was put forth and directed towards mathematical as- 

 tronomy. In 1848 after three years of close application, the first set 

 of astronomical tables was brought out, but no purchaser found. 

 This was repeated for 1849 and again for 1850, when they were sold 

 to the Neio York Tribune the first ' Wliig Almanac.' Thereafter the 

 business increased. In 1876 his son, Berlin H. Wright succeeded to 

 this business, and other branches of science claimed increased atten- 

 tion, especially microscopy. Meanwhile, he studied medicine and 

 was a practitioner until 1870, when deafness came upon him. 



" The study of botany was begun in 1856 and he became an au- 

 thority in this branch, as the great herbarium he left testifies. Dur- 

 ing the last two decades, the study of pure mathematics claimed most 

 of his time, though he did much in surveying. In pursuit of recrea- 

 tion, with his son and grandsons he became enthusiastic in geology 

 and conchology. 



" A large library of standard reference works along all these lines 

 and in general literature was brought together. Among these he 

 spent his last years and was happy." 



Mr. Wright contributed a number of interesting articles on the 

 Unionidas of the Southern States, among which may be mentioned : 

 "Notes upon the Unionidae of Southern Florida," ( The Concholo- 

 gist's Exchange, vol. ii) ; " Unionidae of Georgia, Alabama, South 

 Carolina, and Louisiana in South Florida," (THE NAUTILUS, vol. 

 iv), and " Contribution to the Knowledge of United States Uni- 

 onidae," (THE NAUTILUS, vols. x and xi). In the latter paper seven 

 new species were described. C. W. J. 



