THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



soon as one of them showed any great ability he was put into an 

 executive position, where he had to fritter away no end of time 

 in the multifarious things demanded by the red tape of govern- 

 ment. And so, I went on to say, the government men did not 

 have the great satisfaction of having trained the early steps of 

 some future great investigator. 



I thought I had made a good point and sat down rather satis- 

 fied with myself. But Farlow, probably still resenting my refer- 

 ence to his engagement, said, "That is all very interesting, but 

 I am sure that many of us here would be only too glad to turn 

 over to Dr. Howard the training of the early steps of many 

 future great investigators." This met with an instant response 

 from the four hundred teachers present, who broke into hearty 

 laughter at my expense. 



A year or so later Farlow was president of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, and in the early 

 part of his retiring address he spoke of the progress of science 

 and wittily referred to certain attempts at progress as resembling 

 the locomotion of a crab, sometimes sidewise, sometimes back- 

 ward, or to that of the squid, which conceals its exact position 

 by emitting clouds of ink. 



In a previous chapter I referred to New Orleans and to the 

 charming French restaurant kept by Victor Berot on Bourbon 

 Street. During the New Orleans meeting of the Association in 

 1904 or 1905, 1 naturally visited this restaurant as often as possible 

 and introduced many members to it. So on New Year's Eve, 

 when Professor Farlow invited me to sit out the Old Year with 

 himself and his wife at some good restaurant, I naturally took 

 them to Victor's old place. The restaurant was crowded, and at 

 five minutes to midnight the head waiter came to our table and 

 presented the compliments of the proprietor, with the hope that 

 he might join us in drinking our healths on the stroke of mid- 



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