400 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1888. 



extent. All the great heroes of science and literature did not have 

 scientific ancestors or scientific environment. The genius of neither 

 Franklin nor Shakespeare was an inheritance. 



George Washington Tryon Jr. the eldest son of Edward K. Tryon 

 and his wife, nee Adeline Savitd, was born May 20, 1838, on Green 

 street between Front and Newmarket sti-eets, then in the district of 

 the Northern Liberties. The place of his birth is about twelve or 

 fifteen liuudred yards, to the northward and eastward of the State 

 House of Philadelphia, — Independence Hall. The locality Avas 

 never a fashionable quarter of the city. It abounds in alleys and 

 courts of small tenements, having small windows glazed with eight 

 by ten inch panes, and roofs of cedar shingles, as may be seen to-day. 

 A substantial, industrious people, most of them engaged in mechan- 

 ical pursuits, inhabited the neighborhood, the alleys and streets of 

 which were the play-grounds of their many children. It is now as 

 it was fifty years ago, only the signs of age in some spots are prob- 

 ably more apparent. 



George Washington Tryon, a gunsmith, had trained his son, 

 Edward K. Tryon in the manufacture and trade in fire-arms and 

 sportmen's accoutrements, a business which he had established and 

 conducted successfully during a quarter of a century or more. He 

 retired in 1837, leaving his son in possession of the establishment. 



George W. Tryon Jr. at an early age manifested a retiring, cheer- 

 ful and considerate disposition. His interest in the sports and 

 games of boys was not sufficient to divert him from books. When 

 about seven years old he began to collect specimens of natural his- 

 tory. The taste was encouraged by giving him a room at home in 

 which to displa}^ them to members of a society of infant naturalists 

 which he formed. From the start, shells received most of his atten- 

 tion. 



The obseVvant and reflective character of the child's mind is 

 notable. He early discovered that a nomenclature was necessary to 

 satisfactorily arrange even a small collection of specimens. He in- 

 vented one. He named shells according to their shapes or colors, as 

 the round shell, the white shell ; one of such irregular form as puz- 

 zled him to designate he called the funny shell. The habit of gath- 

 ering specimens of natural history begun without method in infancy, 

 and more and more systematized as his experience and observation 

 matured, was life-long. His first and predominant love for shells 

 increased with his years and made him an industrious Vv)tary of 

 conchology. 



