1901 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 123 



to illustrate insects useful or prejudical to agriculture. She had previously invented a process 

 of her own for the execution of plaster models, colored by her own hand, of rare garden plants 

 and hot house flowers, and also a method of making electrotype casts of leaves and reptiles, 

 which were remarkably beautiful and artistic. For ten years she was a constant contributor to 

 these collections not only of insects, but also of interesting specimens of grain, roots, timber, etc., 

 exhibiting the nature of the injury done. As an acknowledgement of the value of the assistance 

 she thus afforded, the Royal Horticultural Society presented her with its "Silver Floral Medal." 



In 1872 she contributed t . the International Polytechnic Exhibition at Moscow a collection 

 of models of insect injuries to plants and electrotypes representing British Natural History. 

 On this occasion also her work was so highly appreciated that she was presented by the Univer- 

 f«ity of Moscow with its Silver Medal, its great Silver Medal, and also its Gold Medal of Honour. 

 At a later date she was awarded the Silver Medal of the Societe Nationale d' Acclimitation of 

 Frarce in recognition of her services in economic etomology. 



In 1877 Miss Ormerod, then inher forty-ninth year, began, with the assistance of her sister. 

 Georgiana, her especial work which caused her to become known throughout the world as the fore- 

 most authority in England on practical entomology. She then undertook the preparation of an 

 annual '• Report of observations of Injurious fnsects and Common Farm Pests " and continued 

 for twenty-four years to issue a volume at her own expense. When she commenced her arduous 

 labours in this connection, very little was known by farmers and gardeners, and not much more 

 by entomologists in Great Britain, of the habits and life histories of insects injurious to farm, 

 garden and orchard crops and to live stock, or ot the best means of destroying them or prevent- 

 ing their ravages. What Miss Ormerod did was to collect the observations of a larare number of 

 persons in the British Isles, made under her instructions for the most part, to obtain details of 

 any experiments cirried out for the destruction of insect pests or the prevention of their 

 attacks, to correspond with workers in other parts of the world who were engaged in similar 

 investigations, to systematise, arrange and publish the information thus obtained, with the 

 addition of her own knowledge and observations of the subject. She also undertook to identify 

 for enquirers any specimens of insects found preying upon their crops and to give prompt advice 

 as to the most likely remedies to adopt. Her correspondence after a few years became immense 

 and the work arduous in the extreme ; but she was a woman of boundless energy, full of inspir- 

 ing enthusiasm, whom nothing could daunt and who shrank from no difficulties or trouble. Her 

 sister Georgiana, her constant companion during these years till her death in 1896, possesse^l a 

 large measure of artistic talent and was invaluable through her ability in drawing illustrations of 

 insects and their works. She published some years ago a large series of excellent coloured 

 diagrams of injurious insects, which the writer, as well as others, has found most useful for the 

 illustration of lectures on subjects of this kind. Her loss was an irreparable one to her life- 

 long companion and co-worker. 



Something of the nature of Miss Ormerod's work, how she ajipreciated her correspondents, 

 and the modest estimate at which she appraised her own great services to her country, are well 

 stated in her simple and natural way in the preface to her last, the twenty -fourth. Annual Re- 

 port. When she began the great work of her life in 1877, to quote her own words, " Compara- 

 tively little was known of the habits and means of prevention of insects seriously injurious to 

 our crops, and of this little a very small amount was accessible for public service, and I under- 

 took the series of Reports in the hope (so far as in my power lay) of doing something to meet 

 both these difficulties.'' How fully her hope was realized is shewn by her further statement, 

 '' Now the necessities of the case have been gradually changing. Year after year information 

 has b3en sent, gradually completing most of the histories of 7nost of our worst insect pests, 

 and now additional information is rarely on points of great agricultural importance." In other 

 words she has succeeded, by dint of long continued and hard work, in making fully-known the 

 life histoiies of all the most serious pests in the British Isles, and in prescribing the best avail- 



