MERRILL — SCHUCHEET 619 



It a small splierlcal pebble, the two resembling an iron-stoue coucretlou familiar 

 to geologists. I long afterwards learned that the two had had no connection 

 whatever, someone having placed the i>eblile in the nveittucle. It always excited 

 my attention and I never failed to examine it when admitted to the room. 

 . . . When the old household was binken up by death and removal, I secured 

 that specimen as my share of the spoils, and to-day It rests on another mantel 

 over the fireplace of the living room in my home at Washington. 



Further information regarding these early influences appears in a 

 letter dated October 20, 1921, wherein Merrill states that it was in 

 particular the insect collection belonging to his grandfather that 

 excited his enthusiasm (MS., 1924) : 



Wliat more natural than that with these " as an example " I should myself 

 begin collecting, and under Judicious encouragement soon had my room at home 

 a far more diversified curiosity shop than anything displayed at my grand- 

 father's? This indiscriminate collecting I carried through my school and col- 

 lege days, and so succeeded in impressing one of my iulluential friends, all 

 unintentionally, that years afterward he recommended me to the late G. Brown 

 Goode of the Smithsonian Institution as a promising youth for appointment 

 on his staff. 



I do not know that I had any very decided views on what profession I 

 wished to take when I entered college. I had thought of civil engineering but 

 this was mainly because it was an out-of-door pursuit — as I understood it. It 

 was not long, however, before I decided on chemistry and natural history as 

 more to my taste, and to these I gave most of my attention. Prof. A. B. 

 Aubert was then professor of chemistry and as it turned out I became his 

 favorite pupil. I failed, however, to become a cliemist, though I became a fair 

 analyst. Our professor in natural history was C. II. Fernald. I became, too, 

 one of his favorite students and acquired much Information that helped me 

 in my subsequent career. What I learned In geology was almost wholly my 

 own ; not a single field trip did we get, nor were we taught even the rudiments 

 of field work. My first real geological trip was with Prof. W^illiam North Rice, 

 with whom I visited the contact between the trap and Triassic sandstone at 

 Meriden, Conn., while assistant at Middletown. 



Merrill was married in November, 1883, to Sarah, daughter of 

 Joseph R. Farrington of Portland, Me. She fell seriously ill in 1892, 

 and the family had to be divided between Maine and Washington, 

 These were hard and trying days for the Merrills. Mrs. Merrill 

 died in 1894, leaving four children, Joseph Farrington, Anne Mar- 

 garet, Mildred Hastings, and Ruth. In February, 1900, Merrill 

 married Miss Katherine L. Yancey, of Virginia, by whom he had 

 one daughter, Katherine Dorothy. During the years 1909 to 1913 

 Merrill himself had setbacks through illness, necessitating repeated 

 visits to the hospital, but from this trouble he apparently recovered 

 fully. 



Physically, Merrill was 5 feet 10 inches in height, of sturdy build, 

 with sandy hair and keen blue eyes. Alert and active, he was always 

 occupied, spending mo.st of his evenings reading, not only the sci- 

 entific publications of the day, but the best literature as well ; on 

 his table invariably lay copies of the poems of Robert Burns, the 



