244 DAVE.VPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIKNCES. 



undertaken in 1875, it was at his instance. It was his hands, too, 

 guided by his remarkable literary knowledge and mechanical skill, 

 that collected and ari-anged the papers and other material for publi- 

 cation, re-wrote much of the manuscript, set up the type, corrected 

 the proof, made the drawings and many of the engravings, and, in- 

 deed, performed nearly all of the labor of preparing the volumes 

 which have been issued; and it was mainly his assiduity and busi- 

 ness capacity that rendered possible the publication and distribution 

 of these volumes upon the meagre income of the Academy. His 

 duties as corresponding secretary, as well as his original work, 

 brought him into communication with the leading naturalists and 

 scientific societies of this and other countries; and this correspon- 

 dence forms an intrinsically valuable portion of the archives of the 

 Academy. Moreover, the publication and generous distribution of 

 the Proceedings resulted in bringing into the library of the Academy 

 an invaluable collection of standard scientific books, pamphlets, and 

 journals — a library whose cosmopolitan character is attested by the 

 fact that no fewer than twenty-four languages are represented in it. 

 No less was the success of the Academ i promoted by the harmony 

 and good feeling engendered by the unfailing courtesy and genial- 

 ity, the pacific disposition, and the sterling good sense of its leading 

 spirit. Indeed, whatever of success this widely known institution 

 has attained, and whatever of credit it has brought to our State, are 

 mainly due to the untiring industry and the unselfish devotion of 

 its late president. 



While either Mr. Putnam's original scientific work or his inde- 

 fatigable labors in connection with the Davenport Academy would 

 have been remarkable, in view of his constant ill-health, even both 

 do not represent all of the work which he succeeded in accomplish- 

 ing; since for two years of his life (1879 and 1880) he had charge of 

 much of the business of his father's office. During this period he 

 attended to the correspondence, collecting, and book-keeping of a 

 law office, and in his intervals of leisure assorted, arranged, briefed, 

 and indexed the multitudinous documents which had been accumu- 

 lating in pigeon holes, boxes, drawers, and out-of-the-way corners, 

 for twenty years, reducing the chaos to perfect order — either of 

 which duties would have taxed the energies of the strongest and 

 most accomplished business man. His combined labors, indeed, 

 were only rendered possible by ceaseless activity and by the method- 

 ical and systematic manner in which all of his work, whether scien- 

 tific, mechanical, legal, or commercial, was performed. His note- 



