1909] Reminiscences of Dr. Fletcher. 199 



stimulation and to his continued assistance and encouragement. 



Before referring to a few of the scientific bodies with which 

 he was connected, mention may be made of a modest literary 

 circle, whose somewhat formidable name of the Ottawa Mutual 

 Research Society, has well-nigh fallen into oblivion. I do not 

 know whether he was the founder of the society, but he was at 

 least the permanent secretary and only officer. The club was 

 limited to twelve members, each of whom in turn acted as chair- 

 man and host and proposed a subject for an essay, or set not less 

 than four questions for examination. The resulting papers were 

 read and keenly discussed and sharply criticized at the monthlv 

 meetings, and the society was thus an excellent training school 

 for matriculation into other societies. The papers, often of con- 

 siderable value, were not published, but a formidable pile of 

 manuscripts gradually accumulated in the possession of the 

 secretary. The society lasted for several years with more or less 

 change of membership, but gradually the few earlier members 

 who had been its backbone found their time absorbed by increas- 

 ing cares and responsibilities and the club was allowed to lapse, 

 though n t without much regret on their part. 



Fletcher had early joined the' Entomological Societv of 

 Ontario, and in Sept. 1877 was elected a member of the Council 

 and rapidly took a prominent position thereon. Always an ardent 

 supporter of the society, he did yeoman's service in maintaining 

 and increasing its efficiency and value. Two years later, largely 

 through his influence, the honour of elcctioa to the Council was 

 also conferred upon me and we jointly attended for many years 

 the annual mer tings of th? society. 



On the 14th of Oct., 1897, as we were returning from one of 

 these meetings, we had the unpleasant experience of a head-on 

 collision, between Stittsville and Ottawa, which caused a bad 

 wreck. He was deeply moved at the loss of life which occurred and 

 showed much sympathy for the wounded, and aided and cheered 

 the survivors during the delay of some hours and in the transfer, 

 through a boggy woodland lot, to the new train sent out from 

 Ottawa. 



He was elected President of the society in 1886 and 

 held office for three years, and was again President for 

 the two ^'•ears previous to his death, a few days before 

 which he had been re-elected for the sixth time. As his 

 entomological work is to be treated of separately, I shall 

 only mention his first paper, which appeared in the annual 

 report of the society for 1878, under the title "An Outline 

 Sketch of the Canadian Buprestidae. " This was a valuable 

 contribution to the report, and I well remember the great care 

 taken by him in its preparation. His subsequent yearly contri- 



