Vol. 4. MARCH, 1888. No. 35 



GEORGE \V. TRYON, Jr. 



On Sunday afternoon, February 5, 1888, Georg-e W. Tryon, 

 Jr., died at his home in Philadelphia. Coming; so soon after the 

 death of Isaac Lea, this sad event has quickly deprived that city 

 of the second of its noted conchologists. Mr. Lea, however, 

 li\'ed to a good old age, and his life work seemed complete and 

 well rounded out; but Mr. Tryon died in the prime of life, with 

 his last and greatest work but half finished. He was not quite 

 fifty years of age, having been born May 20, 1838, but his life 

 was one of great activity, and his published works are im- 

 portant and varied. 



His whole life was spent in thr neighborhood of his birthplace, 

 and his early education was obtained at Friends' school. Enter- 

 ing into business with his father, who was a gun-smith, he con- 

 tinued to devote spare time to his studies, and became greatly 

 interested in natural history. The study of shells at length so 

 fascinated him. that in 1867 he withdrew from business and con- 

 centrated his energies on his chosen science, in which he soon 

 became eminent. His earlier writings were chiefly published in 

 the 'American Journal of Conchology,^ which he established in 

 1865, and of which seven volumns were published. 



After writing various extensive works on American Mollusca, 

 in 1883, he published his "Structural and Systematic Conchol- 

 ogy," which, large as it is, was designed to be but an introduction 

 to the great work of his life, namely, the "Manual of Conchology, 

 Structural and Systematic." The first volume of this series was 

 issued in 1879, and up to the time of his death, twelve volumes had 

 appeared. It was estimated that about thirty volumes would be 

 recjuired to fulfill the purpose of the author, which was nothing less 

 than to describe and fio ure every known species of moUusk which 

 now exists anywhere in the whole world. Four lithographic artists 

 were constantly preparing plates, while Mr. Tryon most indus- 

 triously studied the shells and wrote the descriptions. 



His basis for comparison and study was the extensive collec- 

 tion and library of the Academy of Natural Science, to both of 



