204 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Sept., 'o2 



a real estate business. In 1872 he was appointed librarian of 

 the Bronson Library, which place he held until his resignation 

 because of age and ill health on March i, 1901. During this 

 long term of service Mr. Bassett became well known to a large 

 part of Waterbury's population. He was happy among the 

 books which he knew and loved. His storehouse of informa- 

 tion, acquired with much study and thought, w r as always at 

 the disposal of those who sought his aid, and although he 

 sometimes seemed stern and unapproachable he was at heart 

 kindly and sympathetic. As a result of his love for natural 

 history the library is the richer by many rare and valuable sci- 

 entific works brought to the shelves during his administration. 

 'The Brouson Library has hundreds of standard works on 

 natural history that a less practical librarian would not have 

 thought essential in a manufacturing city. It has three valu- 

 able collections: a botanical collection of about 1,500 speci- 

 mens collected, classified and donated by him ; a geological 

 collection of several thousand specimens ; the Anderson collec- 

 tions of Indian relics. While he did not pay for the last two, 

 his interest and enthusiasm induced others to. 



"He has done even more ; he has in his own quiet, earnest 

 way succeeded in making hundreds of men and women believe 

 that their eyes were made to see, that nature was an open book, 

 that they must, to enjoy the full measure of life, be students 

 of nature. 



"He believed that there were 

 Tongues in trees, 

 Books in the running brooks, 

 Sermons in stones and good in every ////;/<,>, 



"Mr. Bassett was a rarely developed man. He was a born 

 teacher. He possessed that rare faculty of imparting knowl- 

 edge to others and of unconsciously teaching men to teach 

 themselves to be studious, to be thoughtful. He was keen 

 and vigorous of intellect. He was tender and true of heart. 

 His counsel, his knowledge, his advice will long be missed in 

 this community." 



He acquired an enviable position in American entomology 

 through his studies of galls and gall flies, and \va as pioneer in 



