BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH BY THE EDITOR (_continued_)
As a public lecturer Miss Ormerod achieved a high measure of success.
The first effort in this capacity was made at the Royal Agricultural
College, Cirencester, where as “Special Lecturer on Economic
Entomology,” she delivered six interesting and valuable addresses to
audiences of about 120 students and professors on: (1) Injurious
Insects; (2) Turnip Fly; (3) Effects of Weather on Insects; (4)
Wireworm; (5) Insect Prevention; (6) Œstridæ—Warble or Bot Flies. The
first was given in October, 1881, and the last in June, 1884. On the
first occasion Lord Bathurst, one of the Governors of the College, was
present, and Miss Ormerod was placed between Principal McClellan on the
one hand and Professor Harker (biology) on the other, as her sister
Georgiana humorously remarked afterwards, “for fear her courage should
fail and she run away.” Her anxieties in the new capacity knew no
bounds.
Although extremely nervous and anxious she succeeded in concealing this
from an attentive and appreciative audience, and made an excellent
appearance.[40] She declared that while walking from the drawing-room to
the large lecture theatre at the opposite corner of the college
quadrangle she could not utter a word, and on this, as on other somewhat
similar exciting occasions, she experienced a drumming in her head which
she failed to moderate by any attempted remedial measures. After about
three years’ experience as a supernumerary member of the college staff,
it was found that the preliminary preparation of the lectures was
robbing her steadily increasing general work of time which was
inconveniently spared, and, although it was considered an honour to be
invited to give special lectures, she felt it to be a duty to her main
work to retire.
During this period one lecture was delivered before the “Institute of
Agriculture,” at South Kensington, in April, 1883, in the Lords of
Council lecture hall, where as usual she was in a state of trepidation
as to what might happen. The audience numbered about five hundred—two
hundred and fifty of whom were Government students. The subject was
“Insect Injuries to Farm Crops, and their Prevention.” A number of minor
incidents were nevertheless disturbing. To begin with, the driver who
had been engaged to take the lecturer first to South Kensington and
again in the evening to Isleworth, started on the wrong journey first,
but the mistake was discovered before he had gone very far astray. Then
a chairman had failed to appear and another had to be anxiously watched
for at the door. A most suitable person was at last found in the
President of the Entomological Society. All went well for a time until
Miss Ormerod’s sight on the left side wholly failed. Being subject to
attacks of migraine from overwork, she thought one of these had come on,
but on moving a little to the right she discovered that a brilliant
light had been arranged to fall on the diagrams, and that to her great
discomfort she had got into the line of it.
A rather amusing incident occurred as the last distraction. The object
was to place the elements of Entomology before the students in the
simplest form possible, but a few definitions were first necessary. They
were told to realise in the words of Professor Westwood that insects
were “Annulose animals, breathing by tracheæ, having the head distinct
and provided in the adult stage with six articulated legs, and antennæ,
subject also to a series of moultings previously to attaining
perfection, whereby wings are ordinarily developed!”
The audience burst out cheering, thinking, as Professor Tanner[41]
explained afterwards, that the scientific terms were being used as a
joke.
Apropos of this experience she wrote on October 14, 1890, to Mr. Robert
Newstead, “If I could find time I would like to form an instructive
book, on the plan of which I enclose a few lines—so as to proceed
gradually from a foundation well known to the pupils—thus:—
“_Q._ What is an insect? _A._ A fly is an insect, so is a moth or a
butterfly, or a wasp, or a grasshopper, or a cricket.
“_Q._ Is a spider an insect? _A._ No.
“_Q._ Why not? _A._ Because it has eight legs, and never has any wings.
Insects in their perfect state have six legs, and usually either one or
two pairs of wings.
“_Q._ Why do you say in their perfect state? And so on.
“I believe that it is an absolute mistake to begin with a definition of
an insect such as is usually given—half the words of which are utterly
without meaning to the student.”
* * * * *
Under strong pressure at a later date, Miss Ormerod delivered in the
same hall a course of ten lectures in five consecutive days, on the
“Orders of Insects,” and these were reproduced in full in her “Guide to
the Methods of Insect Life.”
The organisation was defective, and very small audiences assembled.
Professor Axe and others who gave special lectures in the same course
had the same experience. Only £10 was paid to Miss Ormerod for her share
of the work, a sum which did not cover outlays, and apart from the
annoyance of the bungling the fatigue was great.
About this course, Professor Huxley wrote on November 11, 1883:—
“Dear Miss Ormerod,—I am very glad to welcome you as a
colleague—and I wish I could come and hear your lectures, being
particularly ignorant of the branch of Entomology you have made
your own. I shall be very glad if any of my students can find
time to profit by your teaching—but I suspect that their hands
are pretty full. We shall be very glad to have your sister’s
work and thank her for the trouble she has taken.—Ever yours
very truly,” &c.
When a copy of the book reached him in the following January he
again wrote:—“Many thanks for your ‘Guide to Insect Life.’ I
know enough of your portion of work to be sure that it will be
clear, accurate, and useful, and I hope that the public will
show a due appreciation of it. With best wishes, &c.
“T. H. HUXLEY.”
Sir Joseph Hooker also wrote as follows:—
ROYAL GARDENS, KEW,
_January 11, 1884_.
DEAR MISS ORMEROD,—Pray accept my best thanks for the copy of
your “Guide to Methods of Insect Life.” I have read the first 50
pages at intervals of my work with great pleasure and interest.
I was an Entomologist before I took to Botany, as was my father
before me, and I do enjoy in my old age the account you give of
the forgotten habits of the friends of my early youth. I think
it is capitally well done and suited to its purpose, and I shall
hope to interest my children with it in the holidays. With
united sincere regards to you both, most truly yours,
JOS. D. HOOKER.
In March, 1882, a paper on “Injurious Insects” was read at a meeting of
the Richmond Athenæum. The hall was so crammed that the Council were
crushed up on the platform. “At the close of the lecture” (Lady Hooker
writes) “Miss Lydia Becker, at that time a vigorous upholder of ‘Woman’s
Rights,’ rose to speak, and while praising Miss Ormerod’s able lecture,
instanced her work as ‘being a proof of how much a woman could do
without the help of man.’ Miss Ormerod, in her reply, thanked Miss
Becker, but begged to say that she had no right to the praise accorded
to her on the ground of her work being so entirely that of a lone woman,
for, she said, ‘No one owes more to the help of man than myself. I have
always met with the greatest kindness and most generous aid from my
friends of the other sex, and without their constant encouragement my
poor efforts would have had no practical result in being of benefit to
my fellow men.’”
In the discussion which followed the lecture Sir Joseph Hooker “referred
to the great benefit they had derived at Kew Gardens from Miss Ormerod’s
researches, remarking that to her and her sister (Georgiana) they owed
some of the best illustrations they had of insect ravages upon plants.
He could not but allude also to the elegance and clearness of the
language employed by Miss Ormerod in her paper as an illustration that
scientific matters might be put in a clear and simple form, so that all
might understand them.... In conclusion he thanked Miss Ormerod and her
sister for their services to science.”
About 1888 an entomological “At Home” was given at Torrington House, St.
Albans, when some sixty people assembled in the drawing-room and
listened to a most interesting dissertation on the “Hessian Fly,” given
by the hostess in a friendly and informal conversational manner.
The Farmers’ Club lecture in 1889 was felt by Miss Ormerod to be the
most important and most gratifying of all similar public appearances.
She prepared it with infinite care and, as the time fixed for its
delivery approached, the state of nervous tension was great. Leading
agriculturists were present, and a number of ladies came to make
inquiries about all sorts of things, but probably the lecturer would
have been equally well pleased had none of her own sex put in an
appearance.
* * * * *
In 1882 Miss Ormerod was invited by the Lords of the Committee of
Council on Education to become a member of a committee to advise in the
improvement of the collections relating to Economic Entomology in the
South Kensington and Bethnal Green Museums. The other members of
committee were Professor Huxley, Mr. W. Thisleton Dyer, Professor J. O.
Westwood, Mr. F. Orpen Bower, Professor Wrightson, and Mr. Moore—Colonel
Donnelly and Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen being present officially. After
serious consideration and a good deal of pressure from influential
quarters, Miss Ormerod accepted the invitation and was a most useful
member of committee till her withdrawal from it in April, 1886. She
continued, however, to assist the supervision of the work, which went on
for some time after. At the first meeting she was asked to prepare a
scheme for a series of illustrations of Economic Entomology, and her
suggestion of classifying injurious insects by the name of leading plant
affected, and not by the Natural Orders of the creatures, was accepted.
A collection of cases containing natural specimens in all stages of
development, as well as accurate drawings of them, though never
completed, was made, at first mainly under Professor Westwood’s
direction, but later on, under Miss Ormerod’s supervision. Many of the
specimens were taken from Mr. Andrew Murray’s earlier contributions.
The collection was in 1885 removed from Bethnal Green to the Western
Exhibition Galleries, South Kensington Museum. The value of Miss
Ormerod’s services and the esteem in which she was personally held by
her associates in connection with the work of the committee, may be
gathered from the subjoined letter sent to her by Professor Huxley.
_March 12, 1883._
DEAR MISS ORMEROD,—Many thanks for the trouble you have taken.
Your suggestion about utilising the figures which are not
specially wanted for our purpose, for schools, seems to me
excellent, and I hope you will bring it forward at our next
meeting.
I hope our first discussion has convinced you that we want
nothing but to achieve something useful. And as I have at any
rate learned how to recognise practical knowledge and common
sense, when I meet with them (they are not so common as people
imagine) you will find me always ready to do my best to aid in
carrying out your views. You really know more about the business
than all the rest of us put together.
Yours very truly,
T. H. HUXLEY.
While Miss Ormerod was associated with the Bethnal Green Museum she was
asked to look at the proofs of a series of insect diagrams illustrating
“Gardeners’ Friends and Foes” being prepared for publication by the
Science and Art Department. She found that an official of the Museum had
been guilty of wholesale plagiarism, both in the coloured figures and
the descriptive letterpress, and moreover that a number of figures of a
popular kind had been introduced which were not drawn with scientific
accuracy, that she felt conscientiously impelled to report the
irregularities and deficiencies to the authorities. The results were
that the diagrams were withdrawn (only a few sets having been presented
for private use to certain fortunate individuals); and the removal of
the official from the position of trust became a wholesome lesson to
those who lightly make use without acknowledgment of the work of others.
* * * * *
At a later date she arranged the descriptive matter of a series of
beautiful insect diagrams, the originals of which were drawn and
coloured by her sister, Georgiana, for the Royal Agricultural Society,
and referred to in the appended facsimile page of a letter addressed to
the present writer, and again at p. 210 of her correspondence.
* * * * *
AN EXCELLENT SPECIMEN OF MISS ORMEROD’S CLEAR AND CHARACTERISTIC WRITING
IN WHICH SHE CONDUCTED HER VOLUMINOUS CORRESPONDENCE.
[Illustration:
May 12^{th} 1891.
Torrington House St. Albans.
Dear Prof Wallace
Your letter was a great
pleasure to us, and my sister
was delighted to hope that
her diagrams may be of such
general use
I have now written to
Mr. Newman begging him to
write to you replying to
your enquiries,—and also
to send (to your kind acceptance
from my sister) by Parcel post
samples of the diagrams, so
far as they are printed
completely. That is with
the exception of the fly which
you have.
You ought I am sure to
see for yourself just what
it is that we are about
]
To Miss Anne Hartwell, Miss Ormerod’s private secretary and confidential
companion, I am indebted for many of the following incidents in the home
life. The two sisters, though they were never robust, enjoyed
comparatively good health, when Miss Hartwell, in May, 1888, went to
reside with them, and were at all times very busy. Miss Ormerod
(Georgiana) usually sat in the dining-room working at her diagrams and
Miss Eleanor in the study. They generally worked all the morning, and in
the afternoon they would walk out together, take a drive, or pay calls.
They frequently had visitors for a few days, and nephews and nieces
would come and go—which was always a pleasure to them. They were devoted
to each other and spent much time together. Miss Georgiana’s death, on
August 19, 1896, was a sad blow to Miss Eleanor, who missed her sister’s
companionship and sympathy dreadfully. To a casual observer time seemed
to heal her wounded feelings and she appeared cheerful and bright, but
in reality she was never again quite the same person—they had been such
lifelong friends and companions.
In a letter to the Rev. C. J. Bethune she wrote on October 12, 1896:—
“I thank you gratefully for your kind comforting letter; believe
me such words as yours are a great consolation and support to
me, for I do miss my dear sister exceedingly.
“For her I fully hope that she is safe, and happy, and I love to
think of her as without fears or doubts serving the Lord she so
humbly trusted—but we were so completely one that I scarcely
feel the same person without her. It was not only our sisterly
affection and colleagueship, but she had such a good judgment
that I am constantly longing for her sound sense to help me.
There is no use in idle grief, and I am fairly well again. I
have not at all put aside work through all my sorrow, for I felt
this would answer no good purpose, and now I am working on my
next Annual Report and am arranging to have a good portrait of
her as a frontispiece (plate XXVII.). I think she would like it,
and I am sure she would have been deeply grateful for the kind
respect paid by the good friends whose friendship she so
exceedingly valued. I scarcely know how to write about it—there
is so much I should like to say. Perhaps I had better not write
more, but indeed I value your beautiful words of comfort which I
have repeatedly read.”
A touchingly sympathetic notice of the death appeared in Miss Ormerod’s
Annual Report for 1896.
* * * * *
Miss Ormerod rose early, breakfasted at eight o’clock, and then read the
“Times.” On getting to work she made a special point of replying to
inquiries first, saying it served no good purpose to keep people waiting
for an answer; and, as a matter of fact, delay or hesitation found no
place in any of her actions. Frequently there were specimens to examine
and report upon, and probably to put aside in a place of safety to
permit of maturation or further development and to undergo subsequent
examination.
After the entomological work was finished—work which was a real
pleasure, but proved a severe strain as the Annual Report was taking
form—her personal correspondence was attended to. She wrote with great
facility and with extraordinary rapidity and accuracy. She had many
colonial and continental correspondents who held standing invitations to
pay her visits, when in this country. Many came, and graciously she
received them, and courteously and royally she entertained them with
much pleasure to herself. None so honoured can ever forget the
cordiality of the breezy welcome which, accompanied by her hearty and
genuinely natural and friendly laugh, were merely harbingers of the
intellectual treat and the other good things that were in store for
them.
Among her most intimate immediate friends were Lord[42] and Lady
Grimthorpe, the Bishop of St. Albans (Dr. Festing) and his sister, the
Dean (Walter John Lawrence, M.A.), General and Mrs. Bigge, Colonel and
Miss Cartwright, Dr. and Mrs. Norman, and Dr. Lipscomb and Miss
Lipscomb. She was always pleased to see friends who called, and she was
very witty and cheerful with them. It was not at all necessary that they
should be scientific. One of the little group mentioned, simply and
perhaps too modestly explains, “I always think that when Miss Ormerod
sent for me, she descended to my level, and our conversation was
generally on the most homely subjects. She would be most interested in
the little events of our everyday life and thoroughly enter into our
pleasures and enjoyments.”
* * * * *
The lively sense of humour which has already been mentioned as a family
characteristic remained with her throughout life. The following little
anecdote told by Mrs. Evans of Rowancroft, Dorking, is also illustrative
of the personal coolness and power of action in times of difficulty
which were conspicuous among Miss Ormerod’s attributes, and it shows
also “the quietly determined manner in which she did some things.”
“My poor little story was told to me a good many years ago. My
aunt was lunching with some friends, and the peace of the
entertainment was suddenly disturbed by the arrival of a large
and lively hornet. No one else ventured to interfere with the
enemy, but Miss Ormerod waited quietly till the insect came
close to her, caught it in her hand, and forthwith deposited it
in one of the little chip boxes which she generally carried in
her pockets. I leave you to imagine the astonishment and
admiration of the other guests, and the quiet chuckle with which
my aunt wound up her story with the remark, ‘Of course I knew it
was a “drone,” by the length of the antennæ.’”
Miss Ormerod was not the least nervous in the sense of being afraid.
When just a girl living at Sedbury she became the centre of admiration
of the workmen on her father’s estate by fearlessly seizing a farmyard
dog by the back of the neck and hauling him off her own dog, who had
been rudely assaulted. Great was the applause of “Miss Eleanor’s
sperrit.”
[Illustration:
PLATE XXI.
AP ADAM OAK, SEDBURY PARK.
]
[Illustration:
HEDGEHOG OAK, SEDBURY PARK.
]
Another incident with a dog of a much more dangerous character is best
given in her own words: “I only remember one instance of rabies. The
animal attacked was one of two beautiful Clumber spaniels which had been
left one day at our house with a message that the sender, a friend of my
brother, desired him to select one of them, and accept it as a gift. The
two pretty creatures, named Cæsar and Pompey, were introduced into our
establishment, and one of them—Cæsar—became a great favourite with my
father. How long it was after their arrival I do not remember, but one
day Cæsar vanished, and in the course of the afternoon, although he was
not one of the house dogs, he came to me as I was standing in the front
hall. To my astonishment when I noticed him as usual, he gave a kind of
scream, or extraordinary howl, such as I had never heard before, and I
saw that the expression of his eyes was wild and distressed to an
entirely unnatural degree. The strange scream made me suspect what might
be wrong, and I called one of the head men. We took the dog, who was
perfectly gentle, into the butler’s pantry and shut the door so that he
might not escape, whilst we tried to find out what was amiss. I did not
much like the business, but it happened I was the only one at home,
excepting a lady relation, who, thinking “discretion the better part of
valour,” mounted herself _pro tem._ out of harm’s way, on the top of a
very large stone table, and awaited results in safety. I knew that
offering water was a very partial test, but I had some poured out. The
effect was instantaneous. The moment the poor dog heard the sound he
almost flew to me, as if for protection, and tried to wrap his head in
my dress so as to exclude the sound, calling out as if in great trouble.
I had no right to have my father’s favourite dog destroyed on a
suspicion in his temporary absence, and the dog so far was not violent;
it appeared to me that the only reasonable course to adopt was to have
him chained securely and led away to an empty stable, where he was
fastened to a pole and the door shut. By this course no harm could
happen, except in prolonging the poor creature’s sufferings. These,
however, though increasingly violent, were not endured for very long. By
the time my father returned, in about an hour, the dog was tearing the
woodwork all around him to pieces. He was at once destroyed, the attack
being pronounced, by those better versed in the matter than myself,
undoubtedly a case of rabies.”
* * * * *
Miss Ormerod’s brother, Dr. E. L. Ormerod, of Brighton, author of
“British Social Wasps,” testified to the courage and skill with which
she assisted him in taking the hanging wasps’ nests from trees. The “Ap
Adam” oak shown in plate XXI. which she climbed after a hornet’s nest by
means of the library folding ladder, was one of the very ancient hollow
oaks in Sedbury Park, about one-third of a mile from the house. She had
a sick headache next day about which her brother John made the
sympathetic (?) remark, “If young ladies will play at lamplighters they
must take the consequences!” The Hedgehog oak, at the root of which in
plate XXI. Miss Ormerod is seen sitting in rather an uncomfortable
position, was another hollow remnant of the primeval forest. She had
remarked that she thought she was sitting on a wasps’ nest when Waring,
her second brother, promptly admonished her in the interests of the
safety of the party to “sit tight”! The two hollow shells of what must
have been at one time splendid timber trees, were historically
interesting, having been boundary marks of the country referred to in
the time of Edward III. Both trees have been cleared away and the
ancient oak now known as that of “Ap Adam” stands only a few hundred
yards from the original tree, within the moat which formerly surrounded
old Badam’s Court. There are several other very ancient oaks in the
park. Two on the left of the carriage drive, going in the direction of
the mansion house, were christened “Darby and Joan” by Miss Ormerod.
On one occasion the eldest sister, Mary, had the misfortune to run a
crochet hook through her hand. The mother fainted away. Miss G. S.
Ormerod, who supplied this information, concludes, “My Aunt Eleanor
fetched her forceps, nipped off the hook and drew out the stem without
waiting for the doctor’s arrival, showing not only her courage but her
presence of mind.” The same authority goes on to say:—
“She was very fond of children and young people. When staying at
Sedbury, we always enjoyed our walks with her. She made
everything interesting. She taught me a great deal about
insects, helped me to begin a collection of butterflies, &c.,
showing me how to destroy them mercifully and how to set them
out properly. I remember stuffing a splendid dragon-fly under
her superintendence.
“Fully occupied as her life was up to the time of her last
illness, yet she was always full of sympathy and interest for
her poorer neighbours, always ready to assist in any good work
that came before her.
“You may like to hear how my aunt was beloved by the servants
for her practical kindness and for the keen interest she took in
all outdoor surroundings. Any curiosity discovered by them,
whether animal or vegetable, was always carefully brought in for
her inspection. Many were the snakes, birds, nests, insects,
fungi, &c., handed to her, especially at the time when she did
so much modelling.”
She maintained throughout a practical interest in the survivors of her
mother’s old servants, and she extended her kindness and thoughtfulness
to those of her own household. Her strong loyalty was curiously
instanced on one of these occasions, on the King’s accession to the
throne, when she summoned all her household, including outdoor servants,
and produced some rare old white port in which they drank the King’s
health. She subscribed liberally to St. Albans’ charities and other
public objects in the Abbey parish in which she lived, as well as in St.
Michael’s, where she attended church. Dr. Lipscomb gives, in a few
words, “An instance of her great generosity, so well known to all who
were intimate with her, though she ever did such deeds by stealth and
blushed to find them fame.” He goes on: “I may mention a day she asked
me to see her. Being rather late I apologised, telling her that the
annual meeting of the governors of our local hospital detained me. She
said she hoped we had had a successful meeting, and on my saying ‘Yes,
with the exception that the accounts showed a deficit of some thirty odd
pounds,’ she immediately produced her cheque book and gave me a cheque
for the amount.” She also extended personal sympathy and practical help
to many of her poor neighbours by whom she was loved and esteemed.
* * * * *
She never lost taste for the pastime of modelling in plaster of Paris,
and at leisure moments, when unable to go out of doors, she would occupy
spare time in this way. She modelled some beautiful specimens of common
fruits and made the cast of her own hand. In the evening, when tired of
writing, she would read or crochet. Her great skill in what is generally
regarded as exclusively woman’s work is independently testified to by
Miss Emma Swan, niece of Professor Westwood, who is so well able to
speak with authority, in the following words: “What particularly struck
me as a young girl at the time I visited her was the very beautiful
needlework she found time to do, and pleasure in doing. Whatever she
did, she seemed to do well!” From the same source we learn that “she
sang and played the piano very well indeed.” She also composed music
with facility and might have developed musical tastes, but for the
overpowering love of science which was the absorbing interest of her
life.[43]
We have it on excellent authority that the very greatest pleasure of all
her public recognitions was experienced on April 14, 1900, in the McEwan
Hall, Edinburgh, when the LL.D. of the University was conferred upon her
in company with a group of distinguished recipients of that honour[44]
before an assemblage of about 3,000 people. The trials of the occasion,
which are described in her letters, were greatly lessened by the
courtesy and kindness and whispered words of encouragement of his
Excellency, the American Ambassador, who was placed beside her during
the ceremonial, and preceded her in undergoing the ordeal of capping. In
presenting her to the Vice-Chancellor (Principal Sir Wm. Muir) the Dean
of the Faculty of Law (Sir Ludovic Grant) said, with his usual
eloquence:—
“A duty now devolves upon you, sir, which has devolved upon none
of your predecessors, and of which the performance will render
the present occasion memorable in the annals of the University.
Our roll of Hon. Graduates in Law contains the names of many
illustrious men, but you will search it in vain for the name of
a woman. To-day, however, a new roll is to be opened—a roll of
illustrious women; and it is matter for congratulation that this
roll should begin with a name so honoured as that of Miss
Ormerod.
“The pre-eminent position which Miss Ormerod holds in the world
of science is the reward of patient study and unwearying
observation. Her investigations have been chiefly directed
towards the discovery of methods for the prevention of the
ravages of those insects which are injurious to orchard, field,
and forest. Her labours have been crowned with such success,
that she is entitled to be hailed as the protectress of
agriculture and the fruits of the earth—a beneficent Demeter of
the nineteenth century. It would take long to enumerate her
contributions to Entomological and Phenological literature, but
I may select for mention the valuable series of reports
extending over twenty years, the preparation of which involved
correspondence with all parts of the world. Remarkable, too, is
the list of the honours which she has received. She was the
first lady to be admitted a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological
Society, and she has been awarded the Silver Medal of the
‘Société Nationale d’Acclimatation’ of France. To these
distinctions the University of Edinburgh, sensible of her
conspicuous services, and not unmindful of her generous
benefactions, now adds its Doctorate in Laws.”
The honour referred to, conferred by our cultured neighbours across the
channel, was publicly announced in the press in the following words:—
“At the Annual Meeting on the 25th of June, 1891, of the Société
Nationale d’Acclimatation de France, M. Le Myre de Vilers,
president, in the chair, the large silver medal of the Society,
bearing the portrait of Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire, was decreed to
Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod, of St. Albans, England, for her work in
Economic or Applied Entomology.”
To a confidential correspondent she wrote, “You will believe that this
pleases me very much.”
Plate XXII. shows this medal with three other silver and two gold medals
that were presented to Miss Ormerod between the years 1870 and 1900 by
home and foreign institutions.
* * * * *
Miss Ormerod preserved very few letters except those necessary for
scientific or business purposes, and these she classified and fastened
into books for convenience of reference. Nothing else, and especially
nothing which if returned to the writer, would hereafter lead to
unpleasantness, escaped ordeal of fire. After keeping letters on general
subjects for a few days, she would tear them up. The result is that, of
the mass of interesting contributions on many subjects, which poured in
to the oracle, first of Isleworth and latterly of St. Albans, from all
sorts and conditions of men and women, the few sample letters written by
prominent public men and reproduced in these pages, are almost all that
remain. To some of her relatives she wrote very amusing letters, but—no
doubt inspired by the desire to avoid all possible danger of hurting the
feelings of people referred to—she exacted the promise that they should
not be preserved.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEY TO MEDALS PRESENTED TO MISS ORMEROD AND SHOWN ON PLATE xxii.
Royal Horticultural Society,
Victoria Medal of Honour,
1900.
(Gold Medal.)
Royal Horticultural Society.
For Collection of Economic
Entomology.
1870.
(Silver Medal.)
Société Nationale d’Acclimatation
de France.
Entomologie Appliquée.
1899.
(Silver Medal.)
University of Moscow, 1872
Emperor Peter I., 30th May,
1672.
Emperor Alexander II., 30th May,
1872.
(Gold Medal.)
International Health Exhibition,
London, 1884.
(Silver Medal.)
Moscow Polytechnic Exhibition,
1872.
(Silver Medal.)
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[Illustration:
PLATE XXII.
MISS ORMEROD’S MEDALS, RECEIVED BETWEEN 1870 AND 1900, AS RECOGNITION
BY SCIENTIFIC BODIES OF HER SCIENTIFIC WORK.
(_pp. 96, 304._)
]
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