686 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOHN ADAM RYDER. 



his apparent obstinacy of disposition as a child, his aversion to class 

 work at school, and his independence of convention, both as to thought 

 and action, in mature life. 



Some time prior to his appointment on the Fish Commission, Mr. 

 W. V. McKean invited him to write articles on natural history for the 

 Public Ledger. But Ryder could not overcome a distrust that his 

 essays would be too technical for popular favor. That he should have 

 declined an offer apparently so advantageous to himself at a time when 

 he needed money is an evidence of the rigid scrutiny to which he sub- 

 jected all his actions. jSTone but his most intimate friends knew of 

 the costs he often paid to maintain his freedom of mental action. They 

 were met without a murmur. But in their payment he doubtless drew 

 largely on that vital energy without which long life is impossible. 

 His dearest friend said of him : " His self-sacrificing devotion cost him 

 his life." 



But, under the stern repression lay a childlike, affectionate nature. 

 He was not happy unless he had one or more of his family with him; 

 he was continually writing to the absent ones. His domestic letters 

 contain full accounts of how he lived, whom he met, and of his enthu- 

 siam for his discoveries. Those who knew him only as a scientist had 

 but little conception of the spirit that actuated him. His work was 

 not a series of merely intellectual achievements, but back of it all lay 

 the feeling that he was bringing something bright and interesting from 

 the outside world to adorn the home. 



His affection for kin extended to his friends. His relations with Pro- 

 fessor Baird were almost those of son. His anxiety and distress at 

 Professor Baird's last illness found expression in all the letters he 

 wrote at that time. As is common with such natures, his sense of jus- 

 tice was keen, though no instance can be shown in which his indigna- 

 nation was not excited by the general sense of wrong implied in the 

 situation rather than by any personal feeling. 



Dr. Ryder's religious training was that of the strict orthodox Christian 

 faith as expressed in the teachings of the Mennonites. His paternal 

 grandmother, who directed his education, was a woman of deep piety. 

 For the faith of his parents he always entertained the profoundest 

 respect, and at least toward the latter part of his life was inclined to 

 return to it. At the age of 18 he studied the Bible closely; and, 

 ever afterwards, no matter how limited his traveling effects, a copy of 

 the ISTew Testament was always among them. Though, as shown by 

 his letters, he departed from the tenets of his early education, oue can 

 not doubt that he retained all the force of a severe mental and moral 

 discipline that such teaching implies. He was faithful in friendship, 

 singularly frank and sincere in disposition, and disliked violent lan- 

 guage, dispute, or criticism. He was. always severe to himself, but 

 sacrificing in spirit to those whom he loved. 



While a Jessup Fund student he became a devoted listener to the 

 Rev. Mr. Mangasarian, an Armenian preacher, who, at that time, held 



