ROBERT EVANS SNODGRASS, INSECT ANATO- 

 MIST AND MORPHOLOGIST 



By ERNESTINE B. THURMAN i 



Adversity is seldom dull. The tilings zvc do in this world do 

 not count for half so much as those that happen. I would not 

 exchange the unexpected in my life for all that I've achieved 

 through efforts of my own. The events vue set in motion by pre- 

 conceived design take us along conventional routes that we 

 expect will lead on to success, while those that fate ordains 

 create all the diversity and give all the excitement that make it 

 worth while to live. 



R. E. Snodgrass, 1914 (unpublished diary). 



The author of this biography accepts with pleasure the unexpected 

 privilege and honor of being invited to participate in offering this 

 well-deserved tribute to Dr. Robert Evans Snodgrass, on this rare 

 occasion, his 84th birthday. There are many throughout the world 

 who join in expressing best wishes and felicitations, and who share 

 the author's sentiments of appreciation, admiration, and respect for 

 so eminent an entomologist. 



Dr. Snodgrass is one who, after more than half a century, still is 

 rendering distinguished and inestimable service to mankind through 

 his contributions to the science of arthropod morphology, anatomy, 

 evolution, and metamorphosis. He is known and admired by many as 

 a friend, a teacher, an author, a literary critic, and an artist, as well 

 as a savant and an internationally renowned scientist. It is difficult 

 to separate his sterling qualities of character and his innate talents 

 for drawing and writing, so well knovi^n to his students and colleagues, 

 from his scientific accomplishments which are the result of an in- 

 satiable quest for scientific truths and a remarkable ability to observe 

 and interpret. 



All these attributes are harmoniously composed into a dignified, 

 erect, gracious, unassuming gentleman of remarkable health, agility, 

 and strength who is possessed of a profound depth of philosophy, a 

 sparkling sense of humor, and a vigorous zest for living. This is a 



1 Senior Scientist (R), Medical Entomologist, Division of Research Grants, 

 National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, Department of Health, 

 Education, and Welfare, Bcthesda, Md. 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 137 



