228 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



a day's tramp tried the endurance of the most experienced walkers. 

 One could not be with him long in the field without catching the 

 contagion and finding himself running about as eagerly as a boy 

 after butterflies. 



He was preeminently a companionable man, delighting in his 

 friends, very vivacious, and always looking at his experiences 

 with the eyes of fresh youthfulness, as though his whole business 

 was to have a good time. From the hard strain of work he always 

 rebounded joyfully, never retaining the air of abstraction or weari- 

 ness. This secured for him the warm friendship of Cambridge 

 associates and of those whom he met in his travels; and his presence 

 always brought good cheer. 



In 1848 Dr. Gray was married to Jane L. Loring, the daughter 

 of Charles Greely Loring, a lawyer in Boston. In all of his travels 

 Mrs. Gray was his constant companion, and established that fa- 

 miliarity with his work and his associates that made her a constant 

 help and delight. Their home life was charming, and although 

 childless, Dr. Gray was passionately fond of children, always greet- 

 ing them cordially, stopping to talk with them, and at times romp- 

 ing with them in boyish abandon. 



Gray's reading was always omnivorous, and this, after all, he 

 says, was the larger part of his education. In his early boyhood 

 there was no great choice, and so everything was read that could 

 be obtained. He says, " History I rather took to, but especially 

 voyages and travels were my delight." At first very few novels 

 were available, but an introduction to the Waverley novels made 

 Scott his life-long favorite. Mrs. Gray, in her Letters of Asa 

 Gray, writes: 



"In later life the novels were always saved for long journeys. 

 The novel of the day was picked out, and one pleasure of a long 

 day's ride in the train was to sit by his side and enjoy his pleasure 

 at the good things. The glee and delight with which he read 

 Hawthorne, especially the Wonder-Book and Tanglewood Tales, 

 make days to remember. So he read George Eliot, and Adam 

 Bede carried him happily through a fit of the toothache. Scott 

 always remained the prime favorite, and his last day of reading, 

 when the final illness was stealing so unexpectedly and insidiously 



