200 DAVENPOUT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



time was spent in the excellent home library, and his after life has 

 shown that here he had stored up a vast amount of knowledge, which 

 was always available, for he seemed never to forget anything he had 

 once learned. 



Impressed, at a very early age, with the importance and value of 

 tlie printing press as a means of culture and progreJis, Duncan and 

 his younger brothers determined, with the wise encouragement of 

 their parents, to procure a press with money saved from their little 

 gifts and earnings. It is woi-thy of note, as an indication of his turn 

 of mind at that tender age, that, when he became interested in that 

 matter, he thoroughly searched his father's library and all other 

 sources within his reach, and made an exhaustive study of the print- 

 ing press, thoroughly informing himself of the history of the inven- 

 tion and every improvement, and the peculiar excellences and de- 

 fects of each, before leaving the subject. 



The press was-purchased, with sufficient type for the publication 

 of " The Star of Woodlawn, a Quarterly Mayczine Devoted to 

 the Development of Amateur and Domestic Literature^'''' in which 

 the family and friends joined by contributed articles, and which was 

 c(mtinued for several years; and here was his first experience in writ- 

 ing for the press, setting type, reading ])roof, engraving, printing and 

 binding, which helped to prepare him for the work of later years. 



During the years 1868 to 1870 he collected insects, shells, and 

 geological si^ecimens, in long and frequent rambles with one or two 

 older friends of similar tastes, but gradually concentrating his atten- 

 tion upon entomology. 



In 1871, while on a visit at Saratoga, he occui)ied himself in the 

 same pursuits. In 1872 he spent three months up in the mountains 

 of Colorado, with Dr. C. C. Parry,, where he added largely to his col- 

 lection of insects, as well as to his knowledge of the subject. It was 

 on this trip that he first met with the eminent botanists. Dr. John 

 Torrey, since deceased, and Prof. Asa Gray, between whom and him- 

 self an intimate friendship has since been maintained. 



His health and strength seemed to be considerably improved by 

 this summer excursion, and the succeeding winter was sper)t in hard 

 study at home. 



In 1873, after a few days instruction in the methods of meteoro- 

 logical observation and forms of reports at the Signal Service office 

 here, he spent five months with Capt. Jones' expedition to the Yel- 

 lowstone, as meteorologist in the United States S(;rvice. His travels 

 on this expedition, over more than a thousand miles of the rough 



