OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, 1911. 189 



Subsequent to this meeting the following obituary note, 

 written by Dr. W. D. Hunter, was received: 



FREDERICK C. PRATT. 



Mr. Frederick C. Pratt, an assistant entomologist in the 

 Bureau of Entomology, died at Dallas, Texas, on May 27, 

 1911, after such a fight against pulmonary tuberculosis as his 

 physician states is very rarely equaled. 



Mr. Pratt was born in London, England, on November 25, 

 1869, and was educated in the parochial schools of Chelsea. At 

 a very early age he showed deep interest in entomology. When 

 fourteen years old he became an assistant in the Insect Room 

 in the British Museum and remained there for seven years. 

 He then became curator of the Rothschild Museum at Tring, 

 England. He left that position to come to the United States 

 in 1892. When he arrived in this country Dr. C. V. Riley, 

 who had become acquainted with him on one of his trips to 

 England, took Mr. Pratt into the entomological service of the 

 Department of Agriculture, where he remained until his death 

 nineteen years later. 



He was first employed as a preparator. The neatness and 

 rapidity with which he did his work immediately caused him 

 to be recognized as a very valuable man in the service. Later 

 he did notable work in connection with the investigation of 

 insects concerned in disease transmission. The character of 

 this work is indicated by the following quotation from Dr. L. 

 O. Howard's paper on the fauna of human excrement: 



To Mr. Pratt more than to any one else is due the large amount of 

 material studied. Undeterred by the extremely disagreeable nature 

 of the investigation and with a rare enthusiasm, he devoted himself 

 indefatigably to the work during the summer of 1899, making collec- 

 tions and conducting rearing experiments. In the autumn Mr. Pratt 

 developed a severe case of typhoid fever and was confined in the hos- 

 pital for more than six weeks. This fact may be coincidental, but it 

 is possible also that the fever may have been contracted as a result to 

 his investigations. 



About the same time Mr. Pratt made important contribu- 

 tions to the knowledge of mosquitoes in the vicinity of Wash- 

 ington. He was one of the first workers on this subject in 

 the United States. Later he was engaged in the investigation 

 of insects affecting truck crops. In this work he accumulated 

 a large amount of information. 



In 1905 Mr. Pratt became connected with the investigation 

 of southern field crop insects. Soon after that date he was 



