February, '22J comstock: reminiscences 33 



and drew ten dollars of my wages and went up and bought the book. 

 I then made up my mind that I was going to study entomology. 



This must be a short talk so I won't go into the details of my troubles, 

 how I tried to kill the insects by burning matches under their noses, 

 and so on. (Laughter) 



Soon after, Cornell University opened, and in the first announcement 

 of the University was a statement giving a list of the faculty, and then 

 a list of professorships soon to be filled. One of them was a professor 

 of entomology and lecturer on insects injurious to vegetation. I saw 

 that that was the place for me to go, for I wanted to study under that 

 professor. 



I want to say in passing that the fact that that was announced as 

 one of the professorships to be filled, is due to the broad vision of Andrew 

 D. White, our first president. He had been a teacher of history and a 

 diplomat abroad, but he had the breadth of view to see science coming, 

 and he planned Cornell on lines by which scientific study was of equal 

 recognition with the humanities. I think that he got the idea of the 

 importance of entomology from the writings of Fitch. He had been 

 in our State Senate, had been on the Committee on Education, and Dr. 

 Fitch was then the Entomologist of New York State and the reports of 

 Fitch doubtless came to his attention. At any rate, that was the 

 announcement. 



Well, the professorship of entomology was not filled until a good 

 deal later. And ver\^ soon after I went to the University, in fact, in 

 my Junior year there was established for me a little laboratory of 

 entomology. It was in a room in our bell tower. You can imagine 

 the size of the room. .Among the students (a very small nirmber) who 

 took work in that laboratory, was L. 0. Howard. 



I was very anxious to learn how to do my work. Up to the time I 

 was made instructor in entomology I had no assistance whatever in 

 entomology. So I made a pilgrimage to Salem, N. Y., to visit Dr. 

 Fitch. That stands out as one of the bright memories of my experience. 

 I found him a very genial old gentleman. He was, as you know, a 

 practicing physician, and like many country physicians, he had an 

 office building out to one side in his yard, a little square building, and 

 in that was a really remarkable entomological library. When I talked 

 with him about methods and how to go to work, he said, "The way 

 to do is to sit down and study an insect." That is what I got from him. 

 But it has always been a blessed memory to have seen that grand old 

 man. 



About that time Dr. Wilder, who was my chief, and to whom I owed 

 the opportunities that I had, arranged with Dr. Hagen that I might 

 study with him. Agassiz had been anxious that Hagen should give 



