74: THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



SOME EEMINISOENCES of the LATE PEOF. WEST WOOD. 

 By Eev. 0. P. Cambridge. 



Among the various obituary notices of the late Prof. Westwood, 

 perhaps that by Mr. McLachlan, in the February number of the 

 'Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,' p. 4 9, gives one the best idea of 

 his versatile genius ; but I have not seen anywhere any allusion to 

 one of his most noted accomplishments, — the mending of broken 

 insects. I have seen him with his little pot of dirty gum, a bit 

 of an old match, two or three needles and pins, and a paper of 

 the yeriest fragments of an insect, and in a brief space of time the 

 insect would appear built up in a most marvellous way, almost 

 defjdng the power of any ordinary pocket-lens to discover that it 

 had ever been otherwise. I remember once, however, finding the 

 Professor's assistant, many years ago, carefullj' collecting and 

 lightly affixing fragments of numerous insects from an entomolo- 

 gical drawer to a sheet of paper. On enquiring what this was for, 

 he said that by-and-bye the Professor would restore each bit to 

 its proper insect throughout the drawer. Presently the Professor 

 walked in, confirmed this statement, and at once set to work with 

 his gum-pot and other implements. I ventured to hint at the 

 chances of some insects obtaining bits to which by nature they 

 might not have been entitled, and so tending to confuse future 

 entomologists. He repudiated the idea with scorn, and, full of 

 confidence in himself, proceeded with his labours. I think this 

 was the secret of his general success in life, as well as in mending 

 insects, — abundance of self-confidence ; and, after all, though it 

 might result, as it did, in the instance mentioned by Mr. McLachlan, 

 in mistaking a crushed cockroach of tender age for a gigantic new 

 flea, yet it is a quality without which very little really good or 

 original work is ever done. If future students of the Hope 

 collection of insects should find anything queer in the structure 

 of some of the specimens, it would hardly be inexplicable; but 

 they must not think worse of the dear old Professor than his 

 friends did in the matter of the flea ; while if no such results of 

 his mendings should ever reveal themselves, it will be the best 

 possible evidence of his accurate knowledge of varied insect 

 structure, as well as of his dexterous manipulation of insect 

 fragments. 



Mr. McLachlan remarks on the Professor's lack of any sense 

 of humour. I could illustrate this by several amusing stories ; 

 but I will only mention one, in which, it seems to me, that his 

 confidence in himself is also very notable. I was visiting the 

 Museum one summer's afternoon, many years ago, when the 

 Professor informed me that he had a lecture on the next morn- 

 ing, and asked whether I would care to attend it. The subject 



