February, '22] osborn: reminiscences 35 



Now we have present another man who has been long in the service 

 and he is one of our greaoest teachers. I refer to Professor Osborn. 

 He has been teaching for forty years. He has also been an investigator. 

 He has worked with injurious insects and has done systematic work on 

 the Hemipuera, especially the leaf hoppers and the sucking lice. By 

 the way, Professor Osborn, here is a newspaper clipping you may find 

 of use. Somebody wrote to a newspaper and asked, "What is the cause 

 of head lice!"' The answer is this: "The same as the cause of gold- 

 fish and grizzly bears. Now they wait, then they mate, presently they 

 propagate, two by two and eight by eight, or some such algebraic 

 rate. In mathematics poorly bred, I can't keep such things in my 

 head. The first pair"' From some loving friend. And here my 

 cootie tale must end." (Laughter) 



Now Professor Osborn has sent out a large number of students who 

 have occupied prominent places in entomology in the United States, 

 Canada and in Africa — perhaps some other countries. I understand 

 that there are one hundred or more engaged in professional entomological 

 work. We would all be pleased to hear a few words from Professor 

 Osborn (Applause) 



Professor Herbert Osborn: Mr. Toastmaster, and Entomological 

 Friends: it is a pleasure to address you, especially in such company as 

 I have to-night. I might begin by going back to one of my entomological 

 inquiries. I remember quite a number of years ago I had a letter from 

 some anxious inquirer which read, "I wish you would tell me how to 

 kill aunts. I have a lot in the cemetery." (Laughter) 



Now the President wrote me a short time ago asking me to give some 

 recollections of the early days of the society, and I thought that I 

 might give you some features of the meetings that might interest you. 

 I shall try to do it in a few words. 



I did not attend the first meeting, the Toronto meeting here at the 

 time of the organization, nor the meeting in Washington that shortly 

 followed that, at the time of the meeting of the American Association 

 of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. But the next 

 year, at the Champaign, Illinois, meeting, I was present, and that we 

 considered in many ways the opening meeting because we had there 

 Dr. Riley, Professor Cook and a number of the leaders, with a program 

 of considerable extent and as it was the first meeting of this Society 

 that I attended, its proceedings are very clear in my mind. 



Now the Association of Economic Entomologists we have, of course, 

 looked upon as a daughter of the Entomological Club of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science. We have never before 

 heard that there was anything but a mother of this society, and I have 

 always supposed that this Association of Economic Entomologists 



