FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



me at one of these functions, given by the Chinese community. 

 The presiding officer was Mr. Wang How, a dignified and 

 impressive Oriental who made what was apparently a cordial 

 and eloquent address of welcome. But he spoke in Chinese. 

 As President of the Congress, I was called upon to respond. I 

 complimented Mr. Wang How upon his remarks (of which 

 I had not understood a single word) and spoke with admira- 

 tion of the wonderful Chinese nation, of its marvelous history, 

 and its wonderful inventions, referring, of course, to the dis- 

 covery of gunpowder and the mariner's compass, and went on 

 to demonstrate that the Chinese had been inventive in little 

 things as well as big ones. 



"For example," I said, "take the name of the distinguished 

 Chairman, Mr. How. That happens to be the first syllable of 

 my name, therefore my family must have originated in China." 

 And I therefore greeted Mr. How as a long-lost relative. 



After I had taken my seat. Sir Joseph was called upon. He 

 began by saying that he was much interested in what I had 

 said, but that he had anticipated me in my discovery of my 

 relationship to Mr. How, since he had noticed the facial resem- 

 blance between us as we sat almost side by side at the head 

 table! 



My opening address as Chairman of this Conference was 

 called "The Evolution of Internationalism" — the one referred 

 to in the first paragraph of this chapter. I enjoyed writing the 

 address and in thinking about the general subject. It was pub- 

 lished locally, and was printed in full in the American journal 

 Science. I thought that it would be a good idea to send it 

 about a bit, and in doing so I had an interesting experience. 

 I sent a copy to my friend Paul Marchal, in Paris, and asked 

 him to hand it to the late Henri Sagnier, Permanent Secretary 

 of the Academic d' Agriculture, for possible republication by 



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