JOURNAL 



OF THE 



Vol. XXIV. DECEMBER, 1916. No. 4. 



LOUIS H. JOUTEL. 



By Wm. T. Davis, 



New Brighton, Staten Island, N. Y. 



More than half a century ago a number of families from France 

 settled a short distance north of the Delaware River, in Delaware 

 County, New York, at what was subsequently called French Woods, 

 and there, on August 19, 1858, Louis Hippolyte Joutel was born. A 

 little later his family removed to New York City, where he attended 

 public school ; then the art school in Cooper Union, and being an 

 exceptionally good observer he picked up considerable knowledge 

 about a number of subjects. For about thirty-five years he lived in 

 the house at 164 East 117th St. In early days the surroundings were 

 much more rural, but the great city gradually became densely built 

 over and the population about his home more and more crowded. 

 The garden, however, in which he and his sister took such a keen in- 

 terest, remained the same, or there were only those small changes 

 brought about by the planting of more trees, the foliage of which was 

 to serve as food for many broods of caterpillars. This garden was 

 small, for the house stood on but a city lot, yet it contained a green- 

 house, where cacti in particular were grown, also beds of flowers and 

 about twenty §mall forest trees that with characteristic ingenuity 

 had been strapped to the fence and were from time to time skillfully 

 pruned to keep them within bounds. Here in this garden he and 

 his sister carried on many experiments; numerous species of moths 

 were reared and even crossed, some of the hybrids being remarkable 



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