THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



extraordinary Club it has become my second home. Not only 

 has an endless procession o£ distinguished men, both Americans 

 and foreigners, passed through its doors, but the membership 

 itself has been not only a constant source of delight, but of the 

 most enormous educational value. The talk there is not always 

 brilliant, not always stimulating, but on the whole it is worth 

 more than any talk I have ever heard elsewhere. If a man sits 

 there chatting with a friend and some divided opinion shows 

 up, it has been our custom to look around the rooms a bit, and 

 it rarely happens that we do not find in some corner a world 

 authority on the subject, reading a newspaper or writing a 

 letter or chatting with some colleague. 



What a chance for a young man who is unpolished in the 

 ways of the world and rather narrowly trained, but who has 

 done enough sound scientific work to fit him for entrance into 

 the Club, to broaden out and get new ideas, and even to learn 

 from older men how to look at his own work in a bigger way! 

 I have seen many a raw young man develop visibly from month 

 to month, even in matters of dress and personal habits. It must 

 be confessed, however, that the individuality of many men is 

 so strong that they remain unaffected, except, perhaps, in a small 

 way. Some of them seem even more interesting from this fact. 

 But the foreigners! There have been so many of them! Alex- 

 ander Helmholz was there once, and other great men have 

 made the Club their headquarters when in Washington. I have 

 talked there with Joseph Chamberlain, with Henry Irving, with 

 Lord Kelvin. James Bryce, when British Ambassador to Wash- 

 ington, came frequently to the Club. Jules Jusserand, when 

 French Ambassador, belonged to the Club for many years, 

 although he seldom visited it. A number of times I have met 

 him at receptions and have said, "Excellency, why don't you 

 come to the Club oftener?" and he invariably replied, "My dear 



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