122 THE REPORT OF THE No. 19 



and scientific tastes, and at an early age displayed a love for natural history and out-do t 

 pursuits. 



One of Miss Ormerod's earliest recollections (as related by Dr. Fream in the "Journal of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society ") was being placed in a chair to watch some large water-grubs 

 in a glass, when, to her amazement, one of the creatures which had been injured was devoured 

 by its companions. This youthful observation inspired her with a taste for natural history 

 investigations, and with them she combined a deep interest in botany, horticulture and 

 agricultural chemistry ; she alsj applied herself to the study of Latin, German, French, Italian, 

 Spanish, and other languages. While devoted from her earliest years to objects of out-door 

 life, she was constantly confined to the house by repeated illnesses, but this enforced seclusion 

 only served to render her a more minute, painstaking and exhaustive observer. As her father 

 became advanced in years, it devolved upon her to take a large share in the management of his 

 estates, which included a home farm, and in this way, no doubt, she was led to give the practical 

 turn to her entomological investigations which caused them to be of so much public value 

 afterwards. She also when quite j'^oung took an interest, that she continued to maintain 

 throughout her life, in meteorological observations, and in course of time published " The 

 Cobham Journals" of meteorological and phenological records made by Mis* Molesworfch at 

 Cobham in Surrey. She was the first lady o be admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Mete(n'o- 

 logical Society, as she was also the first lady to receive (in 1900) the honorary degree of Doctor 

 of Laws at the University of Edinburgh. On the latter occasion Sir Ludovic Grant, the secretary 

 to the Senatus, in presenting Miss Ormerod to the Vice-Chancellor, spoke as follows : — 



" Our roll of honorary graduates in law contains the names of many illustrious men, but 

 you will search in vain for the name of a woman. To-day, however, a new roll is to be opened — 

 a roll of illustrious women, and it is matter for congratulation that this roll should begin with 

 a name so honored as that of Miss Ormerod. The pre-eminent position which Miss Ormerod 

 holds in the world of science is the reward of patient study and unwearying observation. Her 

 investigations have been chiefly directed towards the discovery of methods for the prevention of 

 the ravages of those insects which are injurious to orchard, field, and forest. Her labours have 

 been crowned with such success that she is entitled to be hailed as the protectress of agriculture 

 and the fruits oi the earth — a beneficent Demeter of the Nineteenth Century. It would take long 

 to enumerate her contributions to entomological and phenological literature, but I may select 

 for mention the valuable series of reports, extending over twenty years, the preparation of which 

 involves correspondence with all parts of the world. Remarkable, too, is the list of the honors 

 which she has received. She was the first lady to be admitted a Fellow of the Royal Meteoro- 

 logical Society, and she has been awarded the silver medal of the Societe Nationale d'Acclimata- 

 tion of France. To these distinctions the University of Edinburgh, sensible of her conspicuous 

 services, and not unmindful of her generous benefactions, now adds its Doctorate in Laws.'' 



A beautiful collection of injurious insects, and an accompaying series of diagrams, the work 

 of Miss Georgiana Ormerod (her elder sister), now the property of the university and in the 

 custody of the In-^ustrial Museum, Edinburgh, were the much appreciated gift of Miss Eleanor 

 Ormerod. An excellent oil painting of herself, also the gift of the generous donor, has been 

 hung in the university court-room, where it occupies a suitable position in the inner circle of 

 those whom the university has delighted to honour. 



At Sedbury, where she continued to live until the death of her father in 1873, the farmers 

 and farm labourers keenly appreciated the value of Miss Ormerod's studies when they under- 

 stood what good results might follow from them, and they not only gave her the benefit of their 

 own observations in the field, but rendered willing aid in tracing noxious insects and collecting 

 examples of the .mischief they were doing. By 1868 her attainments in the science of economic 

 Entomology were so well recognized that she was invited to contribute to a collection then begun 

 by the Royal Horticultural Society and the Science and Art Department of South Kensington, 



