358 



THE MUSEUM. 



go. Here he had his early trials. 

 He actually worked in a pork packing 

 establishment, made portraits of his 

 fellow boarders and made sketches 

 which he personally sold to apprecia- 

 tive purchasers. At last he obtained 

 an engagement as a reporter on the 

 Evening Journal, and next changed to 

 the Prairie Farmer, at that time the 

 leading agricultural paper of the West. 

 His especial department was botany 

 and entomology, and in the interest 

 of that department he traveled exten- 

 sively. His enthusiasm, industry and 

 versatility soon made his services in- 

 valuable. A curious illustration of 

 the bent of his inind is shown in the 

 fact that he here learned type-setting, 

 simply becausi he was determined to 

 have some trade at his command. 

 The development of insects was one 

 of his main studies, and the results of 

 many original investigations and the 

 answers to many inquiries were pub- 

 lished by him in this paper. In May, 

 1864, he enlisted in the army, serving 

 for six months with the 134th Illinois 

 volunteers. The regiment disband- 

 ing six months later, he returned to 

 his paper, severing his connection with 

 it in the spring of 1868 to accept the 

 office of State Entomologist for Miss- 

 ouri. At last we find him fully launch- 

 ed upon his career, and from 1868 to 

 1877 he did the work which firmly es- 

 tablished his international fame. 



His salary was but $3,000 per an- 

 num and there was no allowence for 

 expenses. Out of this amount Prof. 

 Riley paid his assistant and large trav- 

 eling expenses. He also paid for the 

 beautiful illustrations of the reports, 

 which illustrations were drawn by him- 

 self. The original edition of the re- 

 ports have been long exhausted, and 



any copies now bring very high prices. 

 Charles Darwin, the famous natural- 

 ist, gave them the highest encomiums. 

 In connection with Mr. B. B. Walsh, 

 Acting State Entomologist of Illinois, 

 Prof. Riley established the American 

 Entomologist about this time. 



In 1873 a bill was p,':ssed creating 

 the United States Entomo'ogic Com- 

 mission, with Prof. Riley as chief, 

 and Dr. A. S Packard, Jr., and Cy- 

 rus Thomas as his associates. This 

 commission was designed to cope with 

 the Rocky Mountain locust, then do- 

 ing great damage, and in five years of 

 its existence published five large, fully 

 illustrated reports, besides seven bulle- 

 tins, all the work being done by three 

 members. 



Since this period, with an intermis- 

 sion of two years, Prof. Riley held 

 the position of United States Entomo- 

 logist, which he resigned a few months 

 ago. His work at Washington fully 

 upheld the promise of his early years. 

 In carrying on the operations of his 

 department, working night and day, 

 year after year, without rest, Le near- 

 ly ruined his constitution. To the 

 National Museum he presented his 

 magnificent private collection of in- 

 sects, representing the labor of twenty- 

 five years. Whh it as a nucleus he 

 built up a collection unsurpassed in 

 America. 



Keokuk Geology. 



Keokuk, Iowa has a geological rec- 

 ord that in .some respects is quite 

 unique. 12 miles north of the city, 

 the great Father of Waters begins a 

 headlong descent of 24J feet in that 

 distance, known as the Des Moines 

 Rapids, which caused such serious in- 



