82 
Psyche 
[September 
expect the curatorial work and sorting and identification 
of material will take up all my time.” This kind of work 
did in fact take up much of his time for most of his work- 
ing life, although it did not stop his publishing on his re- 
search. It was partly his willingness to do such work 
that enabled him to build up a magnificent insect collec- 
tion at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. The appoint- 
ment was, however, delayed nearly three years longer, and 
in the interval Banks was offered a position by another 
museum in this country, specifically the curatorship of 
Thysanura, Arachnida and Neuroptera. He refused this 
offer, however, pointing out that “he rather fancied him- 
self an entomologist”, not just a specialist in a few orders. 
By early 1916 definite provisions for the appointment at 
the Museum of Comparative Zoology were made by its 
governing board. Banks shipped his collection and library 
to the Museum during early fall and finally moved to 
Cambridge in November. 
Banks’ collection, which was donated to the Museum on 
his arrival, constituted one of the largest and most valuable 
entomological collections ever received by the Museum. It 
included more than 120,000 specimens, of which 1,800 were 
types. His library, also given to the Museum, contained 
about a thousand pamphlets and books not in the Museum 
library. 
The Annual Report of the Museum for 1916-17 con- 
tained the following reference to the new curator: “The 
permanent staff of the Museum has been strengthened by 
the appointment of Mr. Nathan Banks as Curator of In- 
sects. During the early years (1863-1867) of the Museum, 
the entomological collections were in charge of three As- 
sistants, Samuel H. Scudder, Alpheus S. Packard, Jr., and 
Phillip R. Uhler, later three eminent entomologists. In 
October, 1867, Dr. H. A. Hagen took charge of the collec- 
tions, and during his term of service which lasted until 
his death, they were placed in the front rank of University 
collections. During the fifty years since Dr. Hagen’s ap- 
pointment, the study of insects has become more and more 
specialized, and the Museum is fortunate in its appoint- 
ment of an entomologist whose training and interests in- 
