674 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP JOHN ADAM RYDER. 



It will be thus seen that Dr. Ryder was twiee removed from ancestors 

 who combined English, Scotch, German, and Swiss traits. 



Dr. Ryder's father was by training- a farmer. He became interested 

 in horticulture, and at one 1 ime conducted a large nursery. His talents 

 for invention are of an exceptional order. He has improved mechan- 

 ical devices for preserving and curing fruits, vegetable and animal 

 products, and has become widely known in connection with their 

 manufacture and introduction. 



Dr. Ryder's inventive ability can be traced in great measure to his 

 father and remotely to the Longenecker branch of the family. His 

 mother, however, possesses inventive skill in no mean degree. Ryder 

 had no taste for music. In this respect he resembled his mother, since 

 the taste was well developed in the father. He had a natural facility 

 for drawing, although he never cultivated it beyond what was neces- 

 sary for the illustration of his papers and for. the class room. This 

 talent also is traceable to his father. His taste for natural history is a 

 direct inheritance from his mother. While Dr. Ryder never became 

 much interested in medicine, many phases of his researches are so 

 closely allied to this science that he may be said to have inherited the 

 taste from his father, who, although never having studied medicine 

 systematically, had that turn of mind which is constantly tending to 

 contemplate the nature of disease. A paternal aunt of Dr. Ryder 

 studied medicine. She was never graduated. Her medical opinion 

 was frequently sought for and valued in the community where she 

 lived. She was also of an inventive turn of mind, 



Dr. Ryder early exhibited a taste for natural history. When 3 years 

 old he was constantly bringing into the house brightly colored stones, 

 insects, and other natural objects. At 8 years he knew the botanical 

 names of all the plants in his father's nursery. While very young he 

 was noted for a habit which distinguished him throughout life, namely, 

 of always having his mind occupied with something apart from the 

 duties in hand. Thus, while helping his father at pruning or grafting, 

 he would recite aloud passages from a favorite author, a copy of which 

 would be found in his pocket. On one occasion, his father hearing- 

 hearty laughter, asked him the cause of his mirth. The boy replied 

 that he wondered how Diogenes felt living in such a small place as a 

 tub, and what fun he must have had searching for the honest man. 



Every farmer in those days kept a few swarms of bees.^ While Mr. 

 Ryder was not a professional apiculturist, he knew in common with 

 his neighbors a good deal about the raising of bees. Ryder developed 

 an interest and without being specially instructed became proficient in 

 the care of bees, and throughout life often reverted to their habits for 

 many points in the economy of insects. 



At 3 years of age he began to receive instruction from his maternal 

 grandmother, from whom he early mastered the rudiments of German. 

 He attributed his subsequent fluency in German (for he could speak it 



