THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 421 



On bee diseases, Mr. Cowan is an authority. In fact, in all 

 microscopic studies, he has given proof of deep knowledge. The 

 microscope which he uses and which magnifies a thousand fold was 

 made by himself, for he is a fine mechanic. This instrument, 

 which I had the opportunity of seeing, when he visited us, during 

 his first trip to America, in 1887, is one of the best in existence. 

 Examining the skeleton of a bee with this instrument, was very 

 much like walking over the skeleton of an immense whale, for with 

 the help of two set-screws the object under the lense can be moved 

 back and forth and from right to left, gradually and with the 

 greatest ease. Under this same microscope, minute pollen grains 

 looked like a pile of osage oranges of large size, having the same 

 rough appearance. 



Mr. Cowan's works have had the honor of translations into 

 eight different languages. He is a linguist himself. On this point 

 I will take the liberty of reproducing part of a letter written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller to E. R. Root in 1898, after a visit of Mr. and Mrs. 

 Cowan at the Miller home : 



"Mr. Cowan impresses me as a man with a wonderful fund of 

 information, but who has hardly discovered yet that he is any bet- 

 ter off in that respect than the ordinary mortal. It so happened 

 that while he was here, I received a letter and a newspaper clipping 

 in a foreign language. I didn't even know what was the language 

 — thought by the looks of the printed page that it might possibly be 

 modern Greek. But Mr. Cowan read it off at sight. It was Rus- 

 sian. It made me feel I'd like to begin life over again and be a 

 linguist." 



In 1910, at the end of thirty-six years of chairmanship of the 

 British Association, Mr. Cowan made an attempt to r'^'^ire. As 

 reported in the American Bee Journal that summer, "this was felt 

 to be nothing short of a calamity, and instead of accepting his re- 

 signation, the Association begged that he would take further time 

 for consideration," with the result that he continued still to fill the 

 position. 



In addition to being a beekeeper of experience, a linguist and 

 a microscopist, Mr. Cowan is a botanist of great experience. While 

 visiting with him at the Bertrand home in Nyon, where are gather- 

 ed numerous specimens of exotic plants, shrubs and trees, brought 

 into the little park adjoining the villa by Mr. Bertrand, both the 

 owner and myself were struck with the wonderful ease with which 

 Mr. Cowan cou':^. give the scientific name of every plant he saw, 

 also knowing whence 't originated. Botany is needed in bee culture, 



