A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE 
11 
fauna got in the tow net or at times by dipping came in for a good 
deal of attention. Numerous quick dissections were made, and 
quantities of notes and drawings. Brooks exercised little or no 
supervision over such work, but the older men were a great help 
to the younger. The larger manuals such as Balfour's Embry- 
ology, and later Korschelt and Heider, were fairly thumbed. 
The industry and ''go" of Brooks' summer laboratories was re- 
markable, the lamps lit in the evening, and someone frequently 
sitting up all through the night to "follow a development." 
Toward the end of the season, w^hen a little perspective had been 
acquired and mere mass and variety began to pall, a special form 
or two was singled out as promising something in the way of new 
results, and the path of research was thus opened up. The ma- 
terial so collected was studied in detail during the following winter. 
More intensive reading bearing on the problems as they became 
defined w^as undertaken. Informal, short, but helpful talks about 
the work were had with Brooks from time to time. He would 
examine particular preparations, quickly to be sure, or would 
criticise figures. There was never any leading or ''nursing" 
on his part. By the end of the year, though, some grasp of the 
methods of research had been acquired, and the following summer 
at the seaside usually found the student able to pursue the line 
of inquiry on which he had already started, or to strike off into 
an associated field. 
1887-96.^ No account of Professor Brooks should omit men- 
tion of his love for plants. It is true that this interest was appar- 
ently, to a large extent, of secondary influence as far as his pub-^ 
lished work was concerned ' but it was very real and occupied a 
constant place in his thoughts on the broader problems of nature. 
The relations of the living organism to the environment w^ere well 
exemplified for him in the plant world. He always kept at hand 
something of botanical interest, and would invite you into his little 
greenhouse, or into his garden, to exhibit with pride some product 
of his own skill. Nowhere, perhaps, was his innate sympathy for 
' Professor Henry McE. Knower, University^ of Cincinnati. 
