VOL. XXVII. LONDON, OCTOBER, 1895. No. 10. 



CHARLES VALENTINE RILEY. 



In the death of Prof. C. V. Riley, the world of practical science has 

 lost one of its brightest lights. On the morning of September 14th, 

 Prof. Riley left his home in Washington, on his bicycle, in company 

 with his son, to ride into the city. Not many minutes after they had 

 started the Professor's wheel struck a stone, and he was thrown so 

 violently from his seat, against the curb, that his skull was fractured. 

 He was picked up unconscious, and died some hours later. 



Professor Riley was an Englishman by birth, having been born at 

 Chelsea, September i8th, 1843. He was educated in England, France, 

 and Germany. When seventeen years of age, he came to America 

 and settled on a farm in Illinois. Here he began his first observations 

 on injurious insects. Four years later he went to Chicago, and from that 

 period on to the present time he has always been accorded a foremost 

 place among the leaders of scientific thought in America. 



In 1868, Prof. Riley was appointed State Entomologist of Missouri, 

 and it was during his tenure of that office that he prepared his celebrated 

 nine reports on the " Noxious, Beneficial, and other Insects of Missouri." 

 In 1878, he was appointed Entomologist to the Bureau of Agriculture ; 

 he resigned soon after, but was reappointed again in June, 188 1, and 

 held the office until about a year ago. 



Prof. Riley was a man of keen perception, and possessed of great 

 perseverance and tenacity of purpose. He was an exceptionally 

 accurate observer, and his writings are couched in a plain, unaffected 

 style, which never leaves any doubt as to his meaning. His investiga- 

 tions were markedly original, and he seldom recorded anything he had 

 not actually seen himself His marvellous skill as an artist enabled him 

 to add much to the value of his writings by many exquisitely drawn 

 figures. All his work was characterized by system and thoroughness, 

 and, as a consequence, his writings are most valuable, and very numer- 

 ous. He was also a skilful administrator, and had a faculty for gathering 

 around him the best men available for all special lines of study. Among 



