TI-IE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 200 



iegged l)ir(ls"" — an unliappN' iniurowiiK'nt on the ])i"()\'erl)ial mice. And I dduhl 

 whether it would liavc helped the railwa\' guard in liis famous dispute with 

 Frank Ikickland. We are told that ihickland was just horirding a train with a 

 pet monkey when he was slopped i)_\- the guard and told that he must i)a\- for 

 his pet's jonrne\' in accordance with the compan\"s regulations go\erning dogs; 

 to enlorce his protests the naturalist drew a live tortoise out of his coat pocket 

 and said, "Weill what ahout this?" The man scratched his head conipleteK' 

 non-plussed toi^ a moment; then a happ_\ thought spread across his face in a 

 hroad grin, as he answered, "( )h 1 that's all right : that's a hinsec". and they're 

 free." The world hasn't moved lar since lUickland's da\' and 1 have often heen 

 a]jplied to lor advice not strictK' entomological. 1 rememher once a lnu'r\- call 

 o\-er the 'phone from a drug store, when tlx' following con\'ersation took place: 

 "Hello! Is that Mr. Morris?" "^'es." "Is il vou that's interested in hugs?" 

 "Yes." "W ell ! saw ihei'e's a hig lizarrl down in the cellar and we'd like \'ou t(j 

 C('me and see it.'' 



As most of my ])apers in thi' "k'ntomologist"' descrihe in detail the sxiu])- 

 tonrs of this now fann'Iiar Colcof'trriiis. I shall not sa\' more ahout it here. As 

 child, as l)oy and man, and in this second childhood of finding m\- feet in a new 

 world, from hrst to last my interest has heen pureK' an amateur's delight in the 

 heauties of Xature. .Ml that can fairly he asked of a hohhy is to give pleas- 

 iu"e ; utility is a mere accident, and it wouUl he u-aste of hreath to recommend the 

 pastime where it affords neither pleasure nor interest. 1 sup])ose it is ([uile illog- 

 ical of me, therefore, to cherish as 1 do the memory of a rare occasion on which 

 my hohby was translated into terms of dollars and cents. 



One summer evening as T sat in n.i\- room 1 heard a rig drive hastil\- up 

 lo the school : in less than a minute m\ door was tlung unceremoniousl\- o])en, and 

 m rushed a stout man with spectacles, breathless with excitement, his arms full 

 of a mass of nieadowgrass and weeds. As soon as he could si)eak he told me he 

 had been calling at a farm house and while he talked at the door, his mare, a 

 valuable race horse, had cro])])ed some weeds on the edge of an orchard and got 

 poisoned, v^he was lying in the stable frothing at the mouth and heaving. If I 

 could tell him what the ])oi>on was he thought he could save the animal. I le was 

 a \^et. by profession and knew the common antidotes. I took the sheaf of 

 lierbagc from him and looked it carefully o\er. There wen- no flowers, but 1 

 nf»ticed some tall, r;uik stems with lin\ buds on them and dark flivided leax'es 

 that looked like a buttercu])'s. I lasliK turning uj) lirilton and T-rown 1 ran 

 tlu-ough Rauitiiciilaccac. and eureka' it wa.s aconite. The antidote w.as adnnnistered 

 and the mare recovered: — posi her. rn/n l^rcf^lcr hac : {\\v \'et. credited me with 

 the cure, ancl not long after 1 was shown an entr_\- in the lUirsar's ledger: 



Item: To attending School cow din-ing sickness — $12. oo 



cancelled on accoimt of bax'ing m\- mare saved b\- a member 

 of the school staff. 



IJke T,uck\- I lans 1 h;id swapjied m\' horse for a cow. 



