OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XII, liUO. 107 



From Breslau Mr. Ulke went in 1842 to Berlin to complete 

 his education in art, studying under Professor Wach, and did 

 some fresco painting in the Royal Museum. Here he became 

 associated with others who were opposed to the Government. 

 Ulke's radical ideas on politics soon brought him into conflict 

 with the authorities, and during the troublesome times of 1848 

 he was put in prison. The government soon granted amnesty 

 to most of its political prisoners, and Ulke was released ; but 

 so dissatisfied was he with the conditions in Germany that in 

 1849 he emigrated to the United States. 



He spent several years in New York City, making his living 

 by painting pictures for title pages of books, and giving artis- 

 tic effects to photographs. Here his love of entomology re- 

 vived, one of his first captures being that beautiful longicorn 

 borer, Glycobius speciosus Say. It was here that he first met 

 Leconte, and the friendship grew with the years. About 

 1857 he came to Washington, and, in company with his 

 brother, opened a photographic gallery on Pennsylvania 

 Avenue. Gradually he became known as portrait painter and 

 as such was very successful. At this period he laid the foun- 

 dation of his wonderful collection of North American beetles. 



There were then in Washington a number of enthusiastic 

 young naturalists, who founded the Potomac-Side Natural 

 History Society, and Ulke, with a few congenial friends, 

 formed an inner social circle, called the Megatherium, which 

 often made collecting excursions to the Virginia shore of the 

 Potomac, or discussed scientific subjects at a cafe in the 

 evening. 



On September 7, 1865 he married Miss Veronica Schultze> 

 at New York, a lady of rare literary attainments and also an 

 excellent housekeeper. A devoted wife and companion, she 

 frequently accompanied him on his early collecting trips in 

 the vicinity of Washington. To them were born four sons, 

 Titus, Henry, Darwin, and Charles, and two girls, Anita and 

 Mignon. Charles died young, and the loss of his wife and 

 his daughter Anita was a severe blow to Mr. Ulke in later 

 years. Ulke always seemed to be in the best of health, and 



