FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



and succeeded, and in 191 1 I was given an M.D. Honoris Causa, 

 partly for the work I had done in the college many years before, 

 but mainly because of my later services to public health and 

 my investigations of the insects that carry disease. An honorary 

 degree in medicine is an unusual thing, and I was very proud 

 of this recognition. I later joined the Medical Society of the 

 District of Columbia, and am now on its honorary membership 

 list. 



As the force of the Bureau of Entomology grew, its library 

 was enlarged, and it was necessary to employ several trained 

 librarians. I was able from an early date to use these people as 

 readers and so to go through a great deal of medical literature 

 with little loss of time. 



Here I should like to revert a moment to the subject of 

 honorary degrees in medicine. Back in the middle of the last 

 century — of course before and later — men were licensed to prac- 

 tise medicine in New York State without necessarily having 

 attended a medical college. They studied in some doctor's office, 

 later passed an examination by State authorities and were then 

 admitted to practise. That, I believe, was the way that my grand- 

 father. Dr. Calvin Howard, of Delhi, New York, followed. 

 At all events, I was delighted to find some years ago that his 

 name was among the few that had been given an honorary 

 medical degree in 1842 by Columbian College of Washington. 

 From this old college grew the Medical College of George Wash- 

 ington University. Thus my grandfather was given the same 

 degree by the same college over sixty years before me. 



[56] 



