'i'S'Z DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



t(t cliiubino^ botanists aiul gay butterfiios; what solid rests we enjoyed 

 in our lowly cabin, lulled by the uiicc^asiiig dash of the snow-fed 

 Mad Creek. i\.ll these and much more go to make uj) a fund of 

 pleasant recollections, the record of which would lengthen out too 

 far this memorial sketch. Still in this connection it would be hardly 

 proper to omit reference to the visit at our cabin of the distinguished 

 botanists, Dr. Torrey and Prof. Gray, the latter of whom we accom- 

 panied on Gray's Peak, and had the pleasure of piloting over moun- 

 tain steeps these veterans wh(5 liad many years before been oui- 

 guides on the heights of science. An association with such men, 

 under such circumstances, could not fail to exert an inspiring effect 

 on the susceptible mind of our young associate. 



Almost reluctantly at last, in obedience to the warnings of an ap- 

 proaching winter, we took refuge on the jjlains below, and on Octo- 

 ber 7th reached our respective homes on the banks of the Missis- 

 sippi. 



The results of this trip were shown in tlije securing of a large and 

 valuable amount of entomological material to be classified and 

 studied the comiiig wintei', together with the more valuable acquisi- 

 tion of enlarged experience, and an expansion of mental power. 



The winter of 187'2-3 devoted to this necessary work, was also 

 largely occupied in carrying on a rapidly increasing correspondence 

 with cotemporary entomologists, and submitting the different orders 

 of insects collected, to specialists. As a slight relaxation from this 

 serious work he undertook in connection with other members of the 

 family the printing of a home journal, appropriately named " 77ie 

 Star of Wood/cvn,'''' thus perhaps without any definite intentions, 

 deriving a valuable experience, wliich proved eminently useful in 

 the more important work he was soon to undertake, in publishing 

 Academy Proceedings. 



With the opening spring an opportunity offered and was eagerly 

 embraced to extend his traveling experience by accompanving a 

 military expedition under command of Ca[)t. W. A. Jones, to the 

 Y«dlowstone National Park. The duty assigned to young Putnam 

 on this trip was that of assistant meteorologist, which literally im- 

 plied the carrying a mercurial barometer over this rugged country, 

 keeping up a regular meteorological register, in addition to such ob- 

 servations as canu? more directly in the line of his tastes as an ento- 

 mologist. That he performed these duties faithfully is sufficiently 

 evidenced in the official ap])roval of his commanding officer. As his 

 companion on this trip it was pleasant to note a fuller development 



