4D 
 
 J3Q6 
 
 l9/¥ 
 
 C73 
 
 (JWVCRSiTv) 
 M{sr_apv' 
 
73 f L/ f/ 
 
 ZD ry 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 COMSTOCK ENDOWMENT FUND, 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK 
 AND THE 
 
 STUDENT MEMORIAL FUND, 
 GIFT OF STUDENTS IN ENTOMOLOGY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 
 LD 1386 1914.C73 
 
 The Comstock memorial; a report of the ex 
 
 3 1924 018 721 252 
 
 DATE DUE 
 
 - nr a 
 
 
 
 
 DEC 
 
 1'71980 
 
 
 
 'DEC 1 ■ 
 
 71981 
 
 
 
 nrc c 
 
 91988 
 
 
 
 
 i m. 
 
 
 
 liflV 
 
 
 
 
 M/w - 
 
 T 2000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ie Back Up 
 
 on 
 
 
 Re 
 
 ;all or Lea\ 
 
 ing 
 
 
 T 
 
 ie Univers 
 
 ty 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS 
 OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 VOLUME V NUMBER G 
 
 THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 A Report of the Exercises in Connection with 
 the Presentation of 
 
 THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 LIBRARY FUND 
 
 TO 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 on the Occasion of the Retirement of 
 
 PROFESSOR JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK 
 
 at the close of forty-one years of 
 active service 
 
 SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1914 
 
 SEPTEMBER 15. 1914 
 PUBLISHED BY CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 ITHACA. NEW YORK 
 

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS 
 OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 VOLUME V NUMBER G 
 
 THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 A Report of the Exercises in Connection with 
 the Presentation of 
 
 THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 LIBRARY FUND 
 
 TO 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 on the Occasion of the Retirement of 
 PROFESSOR JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK 
 
 at the close of forty-one years of 
 active service 
 
 SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1914 
 
 SEPTEMBER 15. 1914 
 PUBLISHED BY CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 ITHACA. NEW YORK 
 
/\5 S' b 
 
 C- 73 ^ 
 
 fv-i / 
 
 C.^3 3i 
 
 . ... 
 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 N THE occasion of the retirement from active service of 
 John Henry Comstock, Professor of Entomology and 
 General Invertebrate Zoology in Cornell University, 
 his former students presented to him a fund ($2,500) 
 for the establishment of a memorial library of Entomol¬ 
 ogy. This fund was then presented by Professor Comstock to 
 Cornell University, to keep in trust and to use its income for the 
 purposes indicated by the donors of the fund. 
 
 The exercises in connection with the presentation of this memorial 
 were held in the Assembly Room, Roberts Hall, Saturday afternoon, 
 June 13, 1914. The Floriculture Department had prepared elaborate 
 floral decorations; the date ’73, when Professor Comstock was made 
 instructor in Entomology, and ’14, the year of his retirement, together 
 with a large C, were formed in flowers and hung on the wall back of 
 the stage. 
 
 At the hour set for the meeting, the University chimes were rung 
 in honor of Professor Comstock, and very appropriately, for he was 
 the chime master in 1872-3; and scores that had been arranged by 
 him at that time were played. Some of these scores had been 
 arranged at the special request of Jennie McGraw, the donor of the 
 chimes. 
 
 The exercises were largely attended by former students, col¬ 
 leagues, trustees of the University, and other friends of Professor 
 Comstock. An especially pleasant feature was the presence of many 
 of his college classmates, who were in Ithaca, it being the fortieth 
 anniversary of the graduation of their class.* 
 
 ♦CONNECTION OF JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK WITH CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 He entered the university in 1869 and graduated with the degree of B.S. in 1874. 
 
 In the spring of 1872 he gave a course upon Entomology and was instructor in this subject 
 from 1873 to 1876. In 1876 he became assistant Professor of Entomology and General Invertebrate 
 Zoology and continued in that position till 1882 when he became Professor of Entomology and 
 General Invertebrate Zoology. 
 
 In 1914 he retired at the age of 65. 
 
 During his connection with Cornell University he acted, during leaves of absence or during 
 vacations, in the following capacities: 
 
 Summer vacation of 1872—Advanced work in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 
 University. 
 
 1875—Graduate work at Yale University. 
 
 1888-1889—Graduate work at the University of Leipzig. 
 
 In 1877—he gave a course in Zoology at Vassar College. 
 
 1879-1881—he was U. S. Entomologist at Washington, D. C. 
 
 1891-1900 — he was non-resident Professor of Entomology in Stanford University and spent 
 his long yearly vacation in this work at Stanford. 
 
ORDER OF EXERCISES 
 
 Ringing of the Chimes, - F. 0 . Ritter 
 
 Introductory Remarks by the Chairman, - S. H. Gage, '77 
 
 Address, - ----- L. H. Bailey 
 
 A Letter from David Starr Jordan, ’72, read by Mrs. Ruby G. Smith 
 Address by a Classmate - - - - W.R. Lazenby, ’74 
 
 Address by a Former Student, - - L. 0 . Howard, '77 
 
 (Dr. Howard was detained on Government business, but sent a 
 letter, which was read by G. W. Herrick, ’96) 
 
 Presentation of the Memorial, - - J. G. Needham, '98 
 
 Acceptance and Presentation to Cornell University, 
 
 Professor John Henry Comstock 
 
 Acceptance on behalf of the University, President J. G. Schurman 
 
THE ADDRESSES 
 
 After the ringing of the chimes, the chairman, S. H. Gage, of the class of 1877, 
 addressed the audience as follows: 
 
 Fellow Students, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
 
 The purpose of our meeting to-day is to express two loyalties: 
 One to our Alma Mater, which has given to us so bountifully of her 
 resources, and the other to our teacher and friend, who for over forty 
 years has welcomed and inspired the passing generations of students, 
 and like an elder brother, has shown us, with rare skill and sympathy, 
 how to see with our own eyes the facts of nature already known; and 
 as a master, has shown us how to appreciate the eternal principles of 
 science, and how, with sure feet to follow new paths in original investi¬ 
 gation. 
 
 This telegram has just been received: 
 
 Corvallis, Oregon. 
 
 From the Pacific Coast to the presentation exercises of the Com¬ 
 stock Memorial come greetings and congratulations. They are 
 fortunate who are able to be present to hear the expressions of 
 appreciation of a master teacher, a thorough scientist, and a good 
 friend. 
 
 V. I. Safro and H. E. Ewing. 
 
 The following message is from Dr. Paul Marchal, of the Station 
 Entomologique, Paris: 
 
 Fontenay aux Roses, June 13, 1914. 
 
 Comstock, 
 
 Cornell, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 Amicales felicitations. 
 
 Marchal. 
 
 In the later part of Professor Comstock’s career, when facilities 
 and assistance were put at his disposal, of which he did not dare to 
 dream when some of us took his work, he had the sympathy and 
 backing of the rare man, who in our generation has most clearly 
 heard the “summons”, and most effectively passed on the call to feel 
 again the “Nature Kinship.” This man will now address us. 
 
6 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 THE COMSTOCK DEPARTMENT IN THE COLLEGE OF 
 
 AGRICULTURE 
 
 Abstract of informal Remarks by L. H. Bailey on the Occasion of the Presenta¬ 
 tion of the Comstock Memorial Library Fund, June 13, 1914. 
 
 We are come together to celebrate an event of first importance to 
 the University. We are to dedicate a fund for the founding of a 
 library for special research; but the occasion of this presentation is 
 the celebration of a man. In the last analysis, all that we ever cele¬ 
 brate is men and women. This library is to perpetuate the work and 
 the influence of Professor Comstock. We have had here a work that 
 has grown continuously for forty years, with inspiration, precision 
 and effectiveness. It has not been my good fortune to have been one 
 of Professor Comstock’s students; but I have had what is in some 
 ways the better advantage of being associated with him for many 
 years on equal terms. If it has not been my privilege to have pursued 
 courses of study in Cornell University, I have had the very great 
 compensation of personal association with many of the men. Per¬ 
 haps, therefore, I have a right to speak; and possibly I may be able 
 to formulate very briefly the common feeling on the occasion of this 
 celebration. We have all seen this particular unit in the University 
 grow and prosper. I think I know several reasons why it has pros¬ 
 pered. 
 
 First, as one connected with the administration of education 
 through a number of years, I have been impressed with the perfect¬ 
 ness and directness of the organization of Professor Comstock’s 
 Department. Although it has grown to comprise many persons on 
 its staff, it has been a single-minded Department, all the elements 
 working together toward one productive end. I am not thinking of 
 a business organization, because departments of instruction can never 
 be organized on the regularized basis of commercial concerns; and 
 yet the business affairs of the Department have been competent and 
 complete. I have been aware of the promptness of the Department 
 to meet the demands upon it, and to supply information, reports and 
 suggestions. It has been a pleasant Department with which to work, 
 its records have been ready and on time; its students have been 
 under control; it has been compact; it has had a departmental 
 policy, and therefore has been a good working unit. All this means 
 that the Department is adapted to its ends. I have been impressed, 
 also, with the large part that the personal welfare of the student has 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 7 
 
 played in the organization and operation of the Department. The 
 results of this are well expressed in the regard that the student has 
 for the Entomology and its associated groups. 
 
 I have been further interested in Professor Comstock’s Depart¬ 
 ment because it so well represents the two aspects of University work. 
 In the large, education has one aim; and this aim is the developing 
 and the training of men and women. There are many ways, however, 
 in which this training may express itself or be applied. There are 
 many means of education. Professor Comstock and others in his 
 Department are members of the Faculty in Agriculture; they are also 
 members of the Faculty in Arts and Sciences. This has given the 
 work of the Department a very broad outlook and it has tended to 
 tie together two kinds of university effort. It is a Department of 
 affiliations. It well expresses the fact that there is no antagonism 
 between the old education and the new, between what are called 
 humanities, pure science and applied science. This Department has 
 served both sides of the educational work loyally and without any 
 sense of conflict. This is a good example in any university. Such 
 examples anywhere make not only for the training of students, but 
 also for the training of the teachers themselves to the end that they 
 may overcome or outgrow the tendency to educational toryism. 
 
 What are known as the historical subjects are essentially central 
 in a great university; but everything that is added thereto is so much 
 clear gain, not only for a university but to society. It was a regret 
 to me that the number of students in the College of Agriculture over¬ 
 passed the number in any other college in the university, for I have 
 always thought of a great university of this kind as the crystallization 
 of other colleges about the group of the humanities, although I would 
 not limit the numbers in agriculture for this reason; but an important 
 part of this increase in numbers is due to the work of this Department 
 which so well represents the primary and the applied in university 
 teaching. 
 
 The great attributes of a university may be expressed as unity 
 and diversity,—unity in the ideals of teaching, and diversity in the 
 means by which these ideals may be developed. This diversity also 
 expresses itself in the reaction of an institution to the needs of society, 
 for any university that is worthy of the name carries a human purpose 
 and has a distinct social significance. The diversity in means of 
 education also assembles not only a great number but a great variety 
 of students. The members of the student body come together on 
 
8 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 the basis of broad interests and diverse experiences. I think it a 
 great gain for a young person to have had this contact with human 
 experiences before he leaves college rather than to be obliged to wait 
 for them until after commencement day. 
 
 In the third place, I have watched the work of the Department 
 because of the character of its instruction. It has not been education 
 in the mass or in concert. The student has been put to work at a 
 personal problem, one student with one problem, with one microscope, 
 with one specimen. He has been taught to see the object for himself 
 and not to take the word of his neighbor. He has been challenged 
 and stimulated to understand the object. He has been taught that 
 his work is not complete until it is accurate. He follows his subject 
 in order that he may attain the truth, and attain it for himself. 
 Good education is always personal; it is the result of application, each 
 student alone and on his own responsibility. The tendency is too 
 apparent in this time to dispense learning to groups and to classes 
 rather than to bring it about as the result of painstaking, consistent, 
 and careful effort on the part of a student who has a separate seat, a 
 separate instrument and a separate inquiry. 
 
 And again, I have been much impressed with the fact that this 
 Department of Entomology has considered its great laboratory to be 
 out of doors. It is not a laboratory department alone, in the sense 
 in which we are likely to use the words. Here at Cornell the out-door 
 feeling has always been strong; this is not only because the university 
 is itself in the open, but also because there have been men like Com¬ 
 stock who have wanted to test their work against the fields and the 
 forests and in the streams where the organisms live and die. It is 
 fortunate for any university to stand hard by the open country where 
 there are gorges and swales and uplands, where there are shores, deep 
 forests and the tilled fields, where there is room for natural history. 
 These detract nothing from the pursuit of the older humanities and 
 they also add very much to the effectiveness of any study with the 
 newer humanity, which is the putting of the student in touch with 
 the great environment into which the race is bom. This spirit was 
 in Roberts, under whose portrait we sit; it has been in the great 
 teachers in the College of Agriculture and elsewhere in the university; 
 it has been a very marked attribute of this Department of Entomology. 
 
 And finally, I have been interested in the Comstock Department 
 because of the contribution it has made to the State. Every institu¬ 
 tion of learning carries a great obligation to the people. An institu- 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 9 
 
 tion that receives State funds, has a very special and direct responsi¬ 
 bility. Such an institution is to train the men and women who come 
 to it; but it is also to extend itself, so far as it may, to meet the 
 needs of the people who support it. The Entomology Department 
 has always stood for the highest quality of teaching at home, and it 
 has also been ready to apply this knowledge to the problems of the 
 people. This is an important point of view, now that there is so much 
 tendency to develop extension work when there is very little to extend. 
 Good college and post-graduate work in any department is a pre¬ 
 requisite to good extension work outside. I speak as a citizen of the 
 State and not as an officer of administration when I express my 
 appreciation both of the carefulness of the training of students in 
 residence, and also of the generosity of the spirit that would aid 
 every man on his farm and at his home. 
 
 We are here today, then, in the spirit of congratulation. We 
 congratulate you, Professor Comstock, on what you have done. We 
 congratulate you on what you still have to do. I have hoped that 
 you would retain your office in the buildings of the College of Agri¬ 
 culture, and here continue the work you have followed with so much 
 devotion for more than forty years. I do not think of you as retiring, 
 but only as continuing. You are to cease your active connection 
 with the administration, but this only means, I hope, that you are 
 to devote yourself more uninterruptedly to the work that has so 
 long been associated with your name. One has a right to cease. 
 A man’s life may well be divided into three parts: one part for 
 preparation; one part for service in an institution or an organization; 
 and one part for living, and for making his contribution to the welfare 
 of his fellows in just the way he may choose. Therefore, we come 
 with no regrets and with no cause for sorrow. We have no right to 
 grieve for the order of nature. 
 
 We congratulate Cornell University that you have been here, that 
 you have brought together in all these years so many devoted sons 
 and daughters, that you have assembled this faculty and staff. 
 Your work is to be continued as you would have it continued; your 
 spirit is still to guide it; there is no break in the plan. 
 
 So we are together to celebrate an epoch in the attainment of the 
 ideals of education. These ideals are Comstock ideals. 
 
 At the close of the address by Professor Bailey the Chairman said: 
 
 Among the group of forceful students that sought the new University with 
 the ideals given it by a representative of the virile and independent, thinking 
 
10 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 common people in the person of our Founder, Ezra Cornell, and the precious 
 scholarship and broad human sympathies of our first President, Andrew D. 
 White, came David Starr Jordan. He had an instinct for men, and for good 
 teachers as well as for science; and to-day we have a letter of his written for the 
 occasion from Australia. By the rarest good fortune this message from one of 
 Professor Comstock’s very first students is to be read by one of Dr. Jordan’s 
 students, who is also one of the very last students taught by Professor Comstock. 
 
 LETTER FROM PRESIDENT DAVID STARR JORDAN 
 Read by Mrs. Ruby G. Smith 
 
 I am sorry that I cannot be present on this great occasion. I have 
 to remember Comstock as one of the very ablest of my students and 
 as one of the most inspiring of my teachers, a complex fact that is 
 the text for what I have to say. 
 
 Comstock and I have been in close relation for almost half a cen¬ 
 tury, together in spirit all the time and for a fourth of the period 
 together in bodily fact. 
 
 Besides the young enthusisam and the blessed poverty we shared 
 together in the old Cornell, we stood also doubly in the relation of 
 teacher and student. The name of college “instructor” had just then 
 (in 1870) been invented in academic circles for subordinate teachers 
 and we were both “instructors.” In those far-off days, Comstock 
 taught me all I know and most that I have forgotten of insects and 
 insect life while I taught him the names and habits of the flowers of 
 Western New York. 
 
 Such a combination works finely both ways, for the teacher’s 
 best rewards lie in the school of thinkers and observers he builds up 
 around him; and the fairest memories of the scholar center around 
 those who have led him to see and to think. At both ends of the line 
 I find Comstock. We were boys in those days, boy-teachers as well 
 as boy-scholars, young enough and green enough in all conscience, 
 but we could “egg each other on, comrades in zeal”; the beginning of 
 a process to which men finally give loftier names. 
 
 Now after forty-four years, I may freely tell a story which, so far 
 as I know, has never been told before. In those days, it was believed 
 that prizes were a help to scholarship. This is a fallacy. A prize 
 may help a scholar sometimes, but not scholarship. That is for¬ 
 ever its own reward. Old notions of education withered on every 
 side under the clear gaze of our epoch-making young President, but 
 this one fallacy slipped by unnoticed. 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 II 
 
 And thus it happened that to the class in Zoology of the Inverte¬ 
 brates was assigned a prize of fifty dollars. 
 
 The committee in charge decided that three students showed like 
 merit and that the prize should be divided equally among them. 
 These three were Simonds, a geologist, now Professor in the Univer¬ 
 sity of Texas; Comstock, a chaser of butterflies, and myself, who 
 passed in those days as a botanist. Simonds had made the neatest 
 and most accurate drawings, so it was said. Jordan had written the 
 best examination paper, and Comstock seemed to know the most 
 about the subject. 
 
 Simonds and I had a conference. We two had in sight money 
 enough for another college year—not very clearly visible, to be sure, 
 but seen to the eyes of hope. Comstock with no one behind him 
 could feel to the bottom of his pocket. But he couldn’t afford to 
 leave his insects to go out to make money and we couldn’t afford to 
 lose him. Besides he deserved the prize. It is better to know 
 animals than to write about them nicely or even to adorn one’s 
 knowledge with fair pictures. So Simonds and I stood back and left 
 the prize to Comstock. We were modest in those days and I don’t 
 know that either of us ever took the pains to tell him. And soon 
 after the chimes called him to be their master and then Dr. Wilder 
 made him Instructor in Entomology. 
 
 And thus was laid the foundation of the Department of Entomol¬ 
 ogy at Cornell, the first established in America, perhaps the first in 
 the world, and the little room in the McGraw tower with its batch 
 of insect boxes has grown to be a great center of instruction, investiga¬ 
 tion, and of practical application of knowledge, with eighteen teachers 
 they tell me, besides student assistants, with over thirteen hundred 
 students in actual attendance. 
 
 I cannot estimate the value of all this to the farmers and horticul¬ 
 turists of our country and I shall not try. Still less can I estimate 
 the value of the training in realities all this work represents. Each 
 day brings to student and teacher its share of new thoughts and new 
 observations, for what is known in any science is only a small part 
 of what should be taught. This the student must find out for himself. 
 Every day in the real University new expeditions set forth in search 
 of the unknown truth, whether it concerns the veining of a moth’s 
 wing, the slipping of a glacier, or the freedom of the will, all new 
 knowledge shows the orderliness of the whole which amid all change 
 and all variation shows neither variableness nor shadow of turning. 
 For all change has its own unchanging methods and standards. 
 
12 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 No Comstock eulogy is complete without a reference to Comstock’s 
 home. His marriage intensified his influence in every way. His 
 home became the center of Nature-Study as of human friendliness. 
 Scores of youth of promise of Cornell have owed as much to the per¬ 
 sonal sympathy of the Comstocks as to anything anybody taught 
 them in the school. Not one of all of them—men or women—but 
 renders grateful tribute to-day, not to Comstock alone, but equally 
 to the gifted and big-hearted colleague, who as helpmeet has kept 
 full step with him through all these years. 
 
 The chairman then introduced the next speaker as follows: 
 
 It is often said that men are not appreciated by their classmates until 40 
 years afterward. Like other rules this is proven by the exceptions. 
 
 The next address is by one of the brilliant thirteen whose petition, back in 
 1872, launched Mr. Comstock on his career as teacher of Entomology in this 
 University.* It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you a classmate and 
 a friend for all of these intervening years. Professor William R. Lazenby, of 
 the Class of 1874. 
 
 ADDRESS BY A CLASSMATE 
 William R. Lazenby 
 
 Forty years ago the class of ’74 completed the required course of 
 study here at Cornell. I deem it only fair to say that most of the 
 members of this class left the University at that time to begin their 
 Education. But there were among our three score and six a few who 
 had already begun the real business of life,—which is Education. 
 
 One of this number we all remember. We knew him because 
 of his modesty, his devotion to study, and his genuine manliness of 
 character. Necessity is our master and students like others are 
 
 ♦The reference here made is to the petition of thirteen students in Natural History and Agri¬ 
 culture to the Natural History Faculty of Cornell University requesting that "permission and 
 facilities be given to J. H. Comstock to deliver a course of ten or twelve lectures during the present 
 Trimester upon Insects injurious to Vegetation,” and also asking that "attendance upon the lectures 
 and an examination satisfactory to the Professor of Zoology be allowed to count as one hour per 
 week; and that regular participation in the field work be allowed to count for the other hour of the 
 
 two assigned to Entomology in the Spring Trimester of the 2d year of the 4-year course in 
 Agriculture.” 
 
 This petition bore the following signatures and indorsements: 
 
 Herbert E. Copeland, G. E. Foster, 
 
 E. R. Copeland, P. M. Chadwick, 
 
 T. A. Thompson, W. H. Schumacker, 
 
 F. P. Hoag, Thomas W. Jaycox, 
 
 David S. Jordan, C. Y. Lacy, 
 
 M. C. Johnston, R. W. Corwin, 
 
 W. R. Lazenby, 
 
 Forwarded approved by the Faculty of Natural History. 
 
 Burt G. Wilder, Dean. 
 
 At a meeting of the Faculty [The General Faculty] held April 5, 1872, the accompanying 
 application was granted. „ 
 
 W. T. Hbwett, Secretary. 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 13 
 
 governed by the force of circumstances. Yet it was no ill fortune 
 that compelled this young man to work for his own support during 
 his college course. He found employment without trouble for he was 
 willing to give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. 
 
 I count myself fortunate as did many others, to have become well 
 acquainted with this classmate early in my freshman year. I found 
 him most generous and helpful. There were two traits of his charac¬ 
 ter that stood out in marked prominence and impressed me greatly. 
 One was his uncommon industry and the other was his still more 
 uncommon honesty. 
 
 Some human qualities were signally lacking. He was never 
 domineering; he was never obstinate; he was never patronizing. 
 He never obtruded his counsel or sympathy. His influence was as 
 gentle and persuasive as the spring sunshine or the summer shower. 
 There were turbulent times in the student body during these early 
 days and when the fitting word was needed he was the one whom we 
 could trust to speak it. 
 
 Those whose acquaintance with Cornell is confined to more recent 
 years can scarcely realize the primal chaos of her early life. The 
 “New Education’’ was not royal then, and the young University 
 though grand in conception, rich in endowment, and magnificent in 
 scope, was in detail somewhat vague, unreal and shadowy. There 
 were none of the traditions of college life, no such greetings of old 
 college friends and classmates as we enjoy to-day. We were a band 
 of strangers in a strange land with everything new, unfinished and 
 untried. Yet we were happy, and the very audacity of the experi¬ 
 ment here begun, the very crudeness, the pioneer-like roughness of the 
 situation developed an intense loyalty in students and professors 
 alike. I trust it is not so, yet I sometimes fear that this loyalty is 
 waning in these more modem days. It was in those early years that 
 the one to whom we pay a tribute of respect to-day, came to the 
 University. He came here with a distinct and definite purpose. 
 
 He wanted to study insects, and although he was disappointed 
 in not being able to do this at once, his natural taste for entomology 
 was confirmed and deepened by the study of general zoology, anatomy 
 and physiology, under enthusiastic and inspiring teachers. 
 
 I think there were few if any of our class whose education and 
 training for a useful life work rested on a broader or more secure 
 foundation. And when we find under and above this a character of 
 spotless integrity, and a deep spiritual nature, we have the elements 
 of a very noble manhood. 
 
14 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 There are those who command our respect and esteem for their 
 ability and scholarship, yet incite no special personal affection. 
 There are others who attract us personally, whom we like, who 
 become friends, but are lacking in any distinctive or impressive 
 mentality. There are a few accomplished scientists and scholars, 
 who are also warm-hearted, high-spirited, attractive men. 
 
 Such a man is our classmate, John Henry Comstock, whom we 
 delight to honor to-day. I wonder if we have had among us anyone 
 who has attained a greater success. His whole career as student, 
 teacher, investigator, author, has been a most happy combination 
 of the strenuous, the simple, and the abundant life. 
 
 Strenuous it has been, for in addition to his self-imposed tasks, 
 not a little of his life work has been enforced and exacting; simple, 
 because he has lived close to nature, and her laws have been the rule 
 and guide of his daily conduct; and most of all abundant. Abundant 
 in health, abundant in opportunity, abundant in accomplishment, 
 abundant in honors, abundant in friendship. 
 
 Demanding little he has received much. I speak not for his class¬ 
 mates alone, for from all parts of the country there are men and 
 women who, looking back to their college days on this campus, will in 
 spirit lift to him the signalling hand, and say, “Hail friend and Master, 
 thee we love.” 
 
 The “Address by a Former Student’’ was to have been given by Dr. L. O. 
 Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. Department of Agricul¬ 
 ture; but he was unable to be present, and sent a letter, which was read by 
 Glenn W. Herrick. The reading of this letter was prefaced by the chairman as 
 follows: 
 
 When we think of the beauty of this lake region with its wonderful geology, 
 marvelously rich flora and fauna, we feel sure that its charm must have worked on 
 unnumbered generations. It certainly worked on one of Ithaca’s young men. 
 He became one of Professor Comstock’s students, and decided to devote his life 
 to the subject presided over by his teacher. Recommended to an assistantship 
 in the United States entomological service by Professor Comstock, he has seen 
 that service increase, and under his guidance as its chief since 1894, it has grown 
 from a subordinate division with small appropriations ($30,000) and few assistants 
 (16), to a full fledged bureau (1907) with annual appropriations of over half a 
 million dollars and with a corps of over 200 assistants and investigators. 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 15 
 
 LETTER FROM DR. L. 0 . HOWARD 
 
 I have been expecting until to-day to join you in Ithaca on Saturday 
 and to help the rest of you tell dear Comstock how much we love 
 him, how much we glory in his distinguished career as a teacher and 
 producer, and how we wish him many more years of successful and 
 uninterrupted work. But the government does not consider the per¬ 
 sonal wishes of its slaves, and a wholly unexpected official emergency 
 will prevent me from taking the train to Ithaca to-morrow. 
 
 What fortunate fellows you college teachers are, with your long 
 summer vacations, your sabbatical years, and your retiring pensions, 
 but how abundantly Prof. Comstock deserves all these and more. 
 And just think! if there had been as good a Civil Service law in 1880 
 as there is to-day, Comstock might still have been chief of the ento¬ 
 mological service of the government and might to-day be writing you 
 such a letter as this, explaining how he could not escape from Uncle 
 Sam to join you in honoring some other fellow. 
 
 I was one of Comstock’s first students, and we worked together in 
 the little crowded room in the tower of McGraw Hall for four quickly 
 passing years. And then he got me my first post in Washington, and 
 six or seven months later came to the United States Department of 
 Agriculture as my chief. Then followed two very happy years. 
 Professor and Mrs. Comstock and I worked together, and almost 
 lived together, under such delightfully intimate and perfectly sympa¬ 
 thetic conditions that after thirty-three years thoughts of those days 
 are among my dearest recollections. The amount of work we did 
 in those two years, with the very important help of Theodore Per- 
 gande, was extraordinary. I believe that I have never done an equal 
 amount of work in the same time since. That was because we were 
 very young, because we were filled with enthusiasm, and because of 
 our sympathetic intimacy. 
 
 And then they went back to Cornell. Since those days the 
 entomological service of the Department of Agriculture here in 
 Washington has had a remarkable growth, but the growth of Com¬ 
 stock’s department at Ithaca has been just as extraordinary. And 
 no one will deny that, aside from the influences which have operated 
 in common with the two institutions, the dominant influence at 
 Cornell has been Comstock’s personality. 
 
 He cannot be praised too highly. His sound published work, the 
 great department he has built up, his graduates in all parts of the 
 world, offer memorials of his own making beside which the memorial 
 
16 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 you are giving, however pleasing it will be to him as a recognition of 
 his work, is in reality insignificant. 
 
 What a fine life he has led! And how fine will be the coming 
 years! And what an enviable career when at last it shall have 
 finished. 
 
 The chairman then said: 
 
 In giving our friend and teacher the evidence of our esteem and loyalty, we 
 have selected as our spokesman a man of the wide vision which enables him to 
 speak for all of us, whatever may have become our special life work. 
 
 PRESENTATION OF THE MEMORIAL TO PROFESSOR 
 
 COMSTOCK 
 
 By James G. Needham 
 
 I have the honor to represent one of the largest bodies of pupils 
 that ever made a common cause of its desire to honor a great teacher. 
 Those who have come under the personal instruction of Professor 
 Comstock number more than five thousand. These have been for 
 the greater part students in the general courses of university instruc¬ 
 tion, but a considerable proportion of them have studied entomology 
 with him; and of those who have done advanced work in entomology, 
 more than fifty have become government entomologists or professors 
 of entomology and zoology. They have carried the results of his 
 labors to the ends of the earth. There is hardly a land where entomol¬ 
 ogy is known that does not number some of his pupils among its men 
 of science. 
 
 So it was inevitable that a movement should spring up to take 
 special cognizance of the conclusion of so notable a teaching career. 
 I must begin by confessing that this undertaking was clandestinely 
 begun. We kept our plans carefully until they were well beyond 
 recall. It was the only way. We knew better than to ask Professor 
 Comstock to sanction any proceedings in his own honor. We went 
 ahead with them because we couldn’t help it. The impulse sprang 
 up independently in several different quarters, and we came to feel 
 that if in the end Professor Comstock didn’t like it, he had himself to 
 blame for it. If he didn’t want something of the sort to happen at 
 his retirement, he should have done differently during those 41 years. 
 
 We did endeavor to mollify the offence. We selected as a memorial 
 the thing which it seemed to us would be the most serviceable to 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 17 
 
 future students, while being both appropriate and permanent. 
 Furthermore, we refrained from solicitation of funds. No one was 
 asked to contribute anything. The pupils of Professor Comstock 
 have voluntarily contributed $2,500.00 mostly in small sums. It has 
 been given gladly, even joyously. One of the delights of the local 
 committee have been the reading in the letters of those who have 
 contributed their testimonials of affectionate regard and enthusiastic 
 loyalty. 
 
 Professor Comstock came to the University in a day when good 
 books in entomology were more scarce than now. Much of the labor 
 of his life among us has been spent in providing better books for 
 students use. His own books make a good basis for a library in 
 entomology. There are none of mushroom growth among them. 
 Never were books more carefully prepared, or more carefully tried 
 out in manuscript at the hands of students before publication. They 
 are all of permanent value. 
 
 We have selected one of them to be the first volume of this memo¬ 
 rial collection of books in entomology — his Evolution and Taxonomy, 
 published in 1893 as a part of the Wilder Quarter-Century Festschrift. 
 It seems to us best to typify his work at Cornell. It was the result 
 of the labor of many years. Its stimulus lay in the needs of his 
 classes for a better formulation of some of the fundamental principles 
 of entomological science. It let in a flood of new light upon an old 
 and much vexed subject. 
 
 (The speaker here read quotations from this work, showing its 
 origin and its long progress, and then other quotations from prominent 
 European investigators, showing the esteem in which this work is held 
 abroad, and then continued.) 
 
 * As I turn over the pages of this book to-day I see in them, not the 
 thorough-going method they fostered in the study of homologies in 
 general, nor the significance they pointed out in the venation of the 
 wings of insects in particular; but I see those qualities here that 
 characterized all his work and that made his teaching so effective: 
 
 1. Clearness —such clearness as never left anyone in doubt as to 
 his meaning. 
 
 2. Hones ty — simple honesty that went straight to the point, and 
 reverenced the truth. How well all of us who studied in his labora¬ 
 tory remember his injunction “Be sure you are right, and then look 
 again.” 
 
l8 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 3. Patience and diligence, that labored for years toward the 
 production of this little book, at first gropingly, and then when the 
 light shone and the way was clear, going forward by leaps and bounds: 
 but whether making visible progress or not—never ceased from 
 labor. 
 
 4. Open mindedness and generosity, that gave to the works of 
 others always more credit than was their due. 
 
 This morning when I wakened I fell to thinking of years gone by; 
 and a burden lay upon me because I feared I had not sensed the true 
 significance of this hour. So I wandered up the hill and across the 
 quadrangle while the dew sparkled upon the grass, and the outspread 
 webs of the spiders lay shimmering in the morning light. And I 
 stopped at White Hall and looked up at that east window of the 
 upper room, the window through which during so many fruitful 
 years, the morning light had flooded in to find the investigator 
 already at his tasks, and then I felt I knew why we were impelled to 
 this meeting. You all (except those who have come most recently) 
 know that window, and the plain but orderly desk that stood behind 
 it. Perhaps you recall that there always lay a few prints upon it, 
 made from photographs taken to show some fact that had just been 
 nailed down. 
 
 It was the investigator who sat through the early morning hours, 
 working joyfully at self-appointed tasks. And when the chimes rang 
 out their summons to the students, then it was the teacher who went 
 out gladly into the laboratory. But between the study and the 
 laboratory there was an open door. Each gained inspiration from 
 the other. There was nothing too precious in the one for the use of 
 the other if the other needed it. The relations between the two were 
 ideal. And relations between master and pupils such as have (ini 
 America at least) been most productive of valuable educational and 
 scientific results. 
 
 But there was another window that looked out eastward from that 
 upper room, and there at another desk was a co-laborer, herself a 
 graduate of Cornell and a lover of the ways of nature. It would be 
 but a poor acknowledgement of our debt that did not mention Mrs. 
 Comstock in this hour. Mrs. Comstock mastered the art of wood 
 engraving and set a new standard of entomological illustration. To 
 the work of founding a great department of entomology Mrs. Com¬ 
 stock brought those qualities of mind and heart that sweetened all 
 our experiences as students here, and bound us forever to the cause. 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 19 
 
 She has habituated us to the warmth of her fireside, and as long as she 
 lives, our feet will ever be turning toward her hospitable door. 
 
 Professor Comstock: 
 
 I beg to hand you here the first volume of the special collection of 
 books in entomology that we desire shall bear your name. Funds 
 for the purchase of other books are at your command. We hope you 
 yourself may use these books for many years to come, you will still 
 be our co-laborer and guide. We ask you to accept this offering as a 
 slight acknowledgement of our debt to you, and of our well wishes for 
 your future years. 
 
 The volume handed to Professor Comstock was a handsomely bound copy of 
 his work bearing the following title: 
 
 EVOLUTION AND TAXONOMY 
 
 An Essay on the Application of the Theory 
 of Natural Selection in the Classifi¬ 
 cation of Animals and Plants 
 
 Illustrated by a Study of the 
 
 Evolution of the Wings of Insects 
 and by 
 
 A Contribution to the Classification of the Lepidoptera 
 
 by 
 
 John Henry Comstock, B.S. 
 
 % 
 
 Extracted from 
 
 The Wilder Quarter-Century Book 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y. 
 1893 
 
20 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 ENTOMOLOGY 
 
 The above is a copy of the book plate adopted for use in the books in the 
 Comstock Memorial Library of Entomology. 
 
 The insect figured is a species of Hepialus, the study of which played an 
 important part in Professor Comstock’s investigations regarding the evolution of 
 the wings of insects. 
 
 In calling upon Professor John Henry Comstock, Recipient of the Memorial 
 Library Fund, the Chairman said: 
 
 My friends, I feel sure that you will care to see into the heart and know some¬ 
 thing of the aspiration of a true teacher when he hears the voices of his pupils 
 calling him. 
 
 PROFESSOR COMSTOCK’S RESPONSE 
 
 Mr. Chairman, former students, and Friends: 
 
 Never before have I felt so keenly the inadequacy of words to 
 express my feelings. I appreciate to my utmost ability what has 
 been said and the bestowal of this testimonial. My heart is filled 
 with gratitude for both. But this seems little to say in return for 
 these expressions of appreciation, and for so great a gift, and all that 
 the giving of it implies; but I do not know how to say more. 
 
 My lot has been a happy one. For more than forty years I have 
 been permitted to teach the subject, for which I care most, to genera¬ 
 tion after generation of earnest students. I have seen many of these 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 21 
 
 students become leaders in their chosen field of labor. I have seen 
 the special subject which when a lad I chose for my specialty, but 
 which was not then taught in any college, become a recognized part of 
 the curricula of many colleges. And in our own University I have 
 seen the growth of an appreciation of this subject and of financial 
 support for it, far beyond the most sanguine dreams of my youth. 
 
 I realize, however, that this great development of entomology is 
 merely a minor part of the sweeping educational revolution that has 
 taken place in our time and which was so clearly foreseen by the 
 intellectual founder of this University, our beloved President White, 
 and which has been so successfully promoted by the present Head of 
 the University, President Schurman. 
 
 The opportunity to take even a minor part in this great develop¬ 
 ment should be sufficient reward for one having had that opportunity. 
 
 I feel, therefore, that this testimonial is an excess of largesse; and 
 had I been consulted in time I should have discouraged the offering 
 of it. 
 
 I hasten to say, however, that I am not ungrateful. Nothing 
 could be more precious to a teacher than such evidence as this of the 
 appreciation of him by his former students, and I wish to thank each 
 and all for it. 
 
 If a testimonial must be given, I think that nothing could be better 
 than that chosen. It is not merely a thing of to-day, but will remain a 
 help to students long after the occasion that suggested it is forgotten. 
 
 Now that the time for my retirement is at hand, I wish to express 
 publicly my appreciation of the loyalty to the entomological depart¬ 
 ment exhibited by all of those who have been selected to carry on its 
 work. In planning the reorganization of the department, for I was 
 ^permitted to make the plan that has been adopted, I found each of 
 my colleagues more anxious to do what was best for the department 
 than to advance his personal interests. I am happy to turn over 
 what has been a child to me for the greater part of my lifetime to the 
 care of those who are so unselfish, loyal and efficient. 
 
 In conclusion I wish to transfer this fund that has been given to 
 me to those who will care for it permanently and administer its income 
 properly. I, therefore, President Schurman, ask you to accept it for 
 Cornell University to keep in trust and to use its income for the 
 purposes indicated by the donors of the fund. 
 
22 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 The Chairman then said: 
 
 And now, President Schurman, it is with great pleasure that I ask you to 
 accept this memorial fund for the University. It represents not only our tribute 
 of love and admiration for our friend and teacher, but our loyalty to the University, 
 and our desire and hope that this Memorial, while keeping forever in remembrance 
 the noble man and investigator whose name it bears, will also contribute to the 
 influences which will encourage others, like him, to develop, flower, and come to 
 full fruitage in the garden of the spirit. 
 
 It is furthermore a pleasure to us to have you accept this memorial, for we 
 know with what earnestness and high ability you have done all in your power to 
 make our Alma Mater realize, in our day and generation, the noble ideal of the 
 ancient Greek University with its appreciation of all science and art, and all that 
 makes for the supreme interests of the human race. 
 
 ACCEPTANCE ON BEHALF OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 By President J. G. Schurman 
 
 I do not think it is too much to describe this occasion as one of the 
 great days in the history of Cornell University. A University is made 
 by the men who teach and work in it. And we are to-day celebrating 
 the achievements of a professor who has brought honorable renown 
 upon himself and upon the University. 
 
 What do we mean by success in life? Is it not the selection of a 
 worthy ideal and the devotion of one’s self to its realization? Pro¬ 
 fessor Comstock’s ideal was to be an investigator and teacher of 
 science. To that object he has given whole-souled devotion and 
 unwearied industry. Until recently he was my next door neighbor, 
 and I remember that for many years he regularly began his daily 
 work at four o’clock in the morning. The publications which have ^ 
 been described to you by previous speakers indicate what large con- 4 ^ 
 tributions he has made to entomological science. And the great 
 number of old students of his who are now scattered all over the 
 country and who join in this tribute of admiration, bear impressive 
 and eloquent testimony to his success as a teacher. May I not also 
 add that the sentiments of esteem and affection which they cherish 
 for him testify also to their appreciation of the sincerity and nobility 
 of his character? 
 
 And so (taking Professor Comstock by the hand), I congratulate you, 
 my dear friend, on this memorable celebration. On behalf of the 
 University I accept from you, with peculiar feelings of gratitude, this 
 fund which your friends have contributed for the establishment of a 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 23 
 
 Comstock Memorial Library in Cornell University. With your 
 scientific work and your services to this University, it will combine to 
 keep your memory fresh among Cornell men for generations still 
 unborn. 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 Of the many letters from those who were unable to be present at the presenta¬ 
 tion exercises the following from teachers of entomology are selected for publica¬ 
 tion here. 
 
 Ontario Agricultural College, 
 
 Guelph, Canada, June nth, 1914. 
 
 My dear Mrs. Comstock: 
 
 I recently received an invitation to attend the exercises in connection with the 
 presentation to Cornell University of the Comstock Memorial Library Fund. I 
 am sorry indeed that I am unable to accept the invitation and be with you Satur¬ 
 day afternoon—it would have given me very great pleasure to be present on such 
 an interesting occasion. It must be very gratifying to you and Professor Com¬ 
 stock that his forty-one years of active service should be so appropriately recog¬ 
 nized. 
 
 I wish to congratulate you both on the attainment of so remarkable a position. 
 It is very rare that a man can give to an institution more than two score years 
 of active service, and still more rare that during all that period he should have the 
 aid and sympathy, and encouragement also, of a competent help-meet in the 
 person of his wife. 
 
 Wishing you and Prof. Comstock many more years of activity and happiness 
 and with kindest regards, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 Charles J. S. Bethune. 
 
 The University of Nebraska, 
 Lincoln, June 5, 1914. 
 
 Committee in Charge Comstock Memorial, 
 
 Cornell University, 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 I am in receipt of your very kind invitation to be present on Saturday, June 13, 
 1914, at the exercises in connection with the presentation of the Comstock 
 Memorial Library Fund to Cornell University. 
 
 I wish it were possible for me to attend those exercises, but I find that the 
 closing exercises of our present school year will require my remaining here in 
 Nebraska. I wish to extend my congratulations to Professor Comstock on his 
 completion of such a long and useful Professorship in connection with one of the 
 strongest departments of Entomology in the country: and I hope he will have 
 many more years of usefulness in the field of Entomology. 
 
 Hoping that you will have a very pleasant time, I remain, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Lawrence Brunner. 
 
24 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 Massachusetts Agricultural College Graduate School, 
 
 Amherst, Mass., June ri, 1914. 
 
 My dear Professor Gage: 
 
 I should be delighted to be present at the Comstock Memorial Exercises, but 
 failing health and advancing age make it impossible for me to do so. 
 
 I am very glad indeed that he is to be thus honored on his retirement from 
 active duties. Professor Comstock has seemed like a brother to me ever since I 
 first knew him. I regard him as by far our best morphological entomologist in 
 this country and perhaps in the world. I was delighted when the Entomological 
 Society of London elected him an honorary member. 
 
 All honor to so fine a type of man as Prof. J. H. Comstock. 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 C. H. Fernald. 
 
 Massachusetts Agricultural College, Department of Entomology, 
 
 Amherst, Mass., June 8, 1914. 
 
 Professor S. H. Gage, 
 
 Cornell University, 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 My dear Sir: 
 
 I greatly regret that I am unable to accept the invitation to be present at the 
 Presentation Exercises of the Comstock Memorial, June 13, 1914. Unfortunately 
 we shall be in the middle of the closing work of the year and it will be impossible 
 for me to get away. 
 
 I regret this the more, as I should otherwise surely be present at the exercises 
 and do all in my power to do honor to one who for so many years has been a leader 
 in the entomological progress of this country, and who by his own work and also 
 through the students he has sent out has had such an influence in its progress. 
 
 I believe that the “Cornell School of Workers” has been a tremendous factor 
 in the development of entomology along the best lines, and am glad, in this way 
 at least, to offer a word of appreciation of the magnificent work accomplished by 
 Professor Comstock during his long service. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 H. T. Fernald. 
 
 (The following letter is from the Professor of Entomology in the State Univer¬ 
 sity of Kentucky): 
 
 Lexington, Kentucky, June 6, 1914. 
 The Committee in Charge of the Comstock Memorial: 
 
 Dear Sirs: 
 
 I wish to acknowledge with my thanks your kind invitation to be present at 
 the presentation exercises of the Comstock Memorial Library Fund and to express 
 my regret that I shall be unable to come to Ithaca on an occasion the purpose 
 of which meets so entirely my approval. No one connected with the University 
 is more worthy of such a testimonial, and the idea of establishing this very 
 appropriate memorial while Professor Comstock lives and can enjoy it is 
 altogether good. 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 25 
 
 Please give him my regards and good wishes, and convey to him my high 
 appreciation of his helpful influence on the study of nature in America. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Harrison Garman. 
 
 Carnegie Museum, Department of The Carnegie Institute 
 
 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., June 1, 1914. 
 
 President J. G. Schurman, 
 
 Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 My dear Sir: 
 
 I have received the kind invitation of the Committee in charge of the Com¬ 
 stock Memorial inviting me to be present on Saturday afternoon, June the 13th, 
 1914. It would give me great pleasure to join with others on that occasion in 
 doing honor to my esteemed friend, Professor Comstock, whose services as a man 
 of science, and especially as an entomologist, have given him world-wide fame. 
 Unfortunately, however, it will be impossible for me to accept the invitation owing 
 to other demands upon my time which are urgent. 
 
 I am, with sincere regards, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 W. J. Holland, 
 
 Director of the Carnegie Museum. 
 
 (The following letter is from the Professor of Entomology in Leland Stanford 
 Junior University): 
 
 Carmel, Calif., June 3, 1914. 
 
 Dear Professor Comstock: 
 
 The formal invitation to the Memorial presentation comes to me here—with 
 full effect. 
 
 Whenever I am in Carmel I always get to wondering just how worth while is 
 all the straining work at the University. It seems, someway, here, in the face of 
 the old trees, the older hills, and the still older ocean, that a man's swift moment 
 might be just as well put in at living less strenuously, more wonderingly, and 
 more fatalistically; accepting the easy fate of an interested but not too anxious 
 spectator of the unrolling of the destiny of the earth and that which on it is. 
 
 But when I am reminded of the twenty-three years of your work that I have 
 known in some degree, personally, and of the other eighteen that I know, in 
 some measure, about, the "forty-oneyears of active service,” I am pulled together 
 with a firm pull—it comes directly from you—and made to see how truly worth 
 while "active service” is. 
 
 And, so if I may send my little contribution to you on this occasion, it will 
 simply be the naively egoistic one of telling you how much your work and you 
 mean to me—to me and my work. Even though I haven’t done much, I should 
 have done less if I had not known you, and even though I am not much I should 
 have been less than the little that I am had there been no you. 
 
 Always gratefully, your pupil, 
 
 Vernon L. Kellogg. 
 
 The Carmel Cabin. 
 
26 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 College of Agriculture and Experiment Station, University of Tenn. 
 
 Knoxville, June 2, 1914. 
 
 My dear Prof. Comstock: 
 
 Just a note to express my regret at not being able to attend the exercises 
 associated with the presentation of ‘‘The Comstock Memorial.” 
 
 I am very happy over this expression of esteem on the part of your students 
 and admiring friends and I shall think of you and Mrs. Comstock on that day. 
 
 You have had more to do with guiding my life than anyone and I always have 
 been, and always will be, deeply grateful. 
 
 With sincerest regards and best wishes to Mrs. Comstock and you, I beg to 
 remain, 
 
 Cordially yours, 
 
 H. A. Morgan. 
 
 West Virginia University, 
 
 College of Agriculture and Agricultural Experiment Station, 
 
 Morgantown, June 8, 1914. 
 
 My dear Professor Comstock: 
 
 I am sorry indeed that I cannot be present on Saturday next when our Com¬ 
 mittee will deliver to you the slight memorial from the hundreds of students you 
 have inspired. I know, however, that it will be a happy occasion, and I feel sure 
 that you feel, as we all do, that your retirement from active duties in the Univer¬ 
 sity will merely give you more time for devoting yourself to whatever research 
 attracts you. 
 
 With kindest regards to you and Mrs. Comstock and with sincere appreciation 
 of the great work you have done at Cornell and the good start you gave me per¬ 
 sonally, I am, 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 E. D. Sanderson. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS BY THE AUTHORITIES OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 ON THE RETIREMENT OF PROFESSOR J. H. COMSTOCK 
 
 Office of the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Cornell University, 
 
 December 17, 1913. 
 
 Professor J. H. Comstock, 
 
 College of Agriculture, Campus, 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y. 
 
 My dear Prof. Comstock: 
 
 I beg to advise you that the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees 
 in accepting your resignation have taken the following action: 
 
 ‘‘In accepting the foregoing resignation the Trustees congratulate Professor 
 Comstock on his long, honorable, and fruitful service to Cornell University, with 
 which as student and teacher he has been associated almost without interruption 
 since he matriculated as a Freshman, and they bear grateful testimony to his 
 success in teaching and in inspiring students, and also in scientific investigation 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 27 
 
 for the continuance of which they trust his health and energy may be preserved 
 for many years to come, to the honor of his Alma Mater and the advancement of 
 truth and knowledge. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 C. D. Bostwick, 
 Assistant Secretary. 
 
 MEMORIAL MINUTE ON THE RETIREMENT OF PROFESSOR JOHN 
 HENRY COMSTOCK 
 
 Adopted by the University Faculty on June 12, 1914 
 
 To John Henry Comstock, who for forty years has served the University as 
 instructor and professor of Entomology, the University Faculty desires to extend 
 its heartiest congratulations upon the notable achievements of his long career and 
 to express its deep regret that his active connection with the teaching staff is 
 drawing to a close. 
 
 What Cornell University owes to him, its senior member, cannot be expressed 
 in words. An inspiring teacher, an indefatigable investigator and a man of true 
 scientific spirit, he has ever stood for the highest ideals in the affairs of the Univer¬ 
 sity. Through his own researches he has enriched the science to which he is 
 devoting the labors of a life time. Wherever Entomology is known he is recog¬ 
 nized and honored. Through the work of hundreds of devoted and enthusiastic 
 pupils who owe to him their training and who have derived from him their inspira¬ 
 tion, science is being notably furthered and our civilization incalculably benefited. 
 
 All these and numerous colleagues, co-laborers and friends throughout the 
 world would join his friends and colleagues in the Faculty, in wishing Professor 
 Comstock the enjoyment of his well-earned relief from administrative and peda¬ 
 gogical burdens, and many more years of happy scientific work. 
 
A PARTIAL LIST OF THE WRITINGS OF JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK 
 
 It has been impracticable to include in this list the titles of book reviews and 
 articles on economic entomology published in various agricultural journals, as 
 no record has been kept of them. 
 
 1872. Report of remarks on insect architecture, Before the Natural History 
 Society, Jan. 27, 1872. The Cornell Era, Vol. IV, p. 261. 
 
 1875. Notes on entomology; a syllabus of a course of lectures delivered at 
 Cornell University. Spring trimester, 1875. Ithaca, N. Y., 1875, pp. XII + 
 154. (Several subsequent editions were published). 
 
 187(1. Report upon cotton insects (U. S. — Department of Agriculture. Wash., 
 1879, pp. V +511. Plates and wdcts.). 
 
 On a new predaceous lepidopterous insect. (In North American Entomolo¬ 
 gist Vol. I, No. 4, 1879). 
 
 1880. Report of the Entomologist of the United States Department of Agricul¬ 
 ture for the year 1879. 
 
 (U. S. — Department of Agriculture Report. Wash., 1880. pp. 185-262. Six 
 plates). 
 
 Cotton insects. (U. S. — Department of Agriculture. Report. Wash., 1880. 
 pp. 263-348. Plates 7-16). 
 
 1881. Report of the Entomologist of the United States Department of Agricul¬ 
 ture for the year 1880. (U. S. — Department of Agriculture. Report. 
 
 Wash., 1881. pp. 235-373, plates 1-24). 
 
 Report on insects injurious to sugar cane. (U. S.—Department of Agriculture. 
 
 Special Report No. 35. Wash., 1881. wdcts.). 
 
 Notes on Coccidae. The Canadian Entomologist. Vol. XIII, Jan., 1881, p. 8. 
 
 An aquatic noctuid larva, Arzama melanopyga Grote, new species. Papilio, 
 Vol. I, p. 147. 
 
 1882. Report on insects for the year 1881. (U. S. — Department of Agriculture. 
 
 Report, 1881. pp. 3-22. 7 plates. Wash., 1882.) 
 
 Second report on scale insects; including a monograph of the sub-family 
 Diaspinae, of the family Coccidae, and a list with notes of the other species of 
 scale insects found in North America. (In Cornell University—Experiment 
 Station. Report, 1882-3. Ithaca, N. Y., 1882, pp. 46-147. 4 plates, 
 wdcts). 
 
 Lecture on scale insects. (In Western N. Y. Hortic. Soc. Proc. 1882). 
 
 Guide to practical work in elementary entomology; an outline for the use of 
 students in the entomological laboratory of Cornell University. Ithaca, 
 N. Y., 1882, pp. 35. 
 
 1883. The hop-vine borer, or hop-grub. American Agriculturist Vol. XLII, 
 June, 1883, Illus. (First published account of the transformations of Apanea 
 immanis). 
 
 1884. Insect enemies of fruit. (In N. Y. State Agri. Soc. Trans. Vol. XXXIII, 
 1877-82. p. 322, Albany, N. Y., 1884.) 
 
 Hymenoptera. (In Kingsley, J. S. Editor. Standard Natural History. Vol. II. 
 p. 503. Boston, 1884). 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 29 
 
 1886. Outlines of lectures on invertebrate zoology, given before the students of 
 Cornell University. Ithaca, N. Y., 1886. (Many subsequent editions). 
 
 1887. Editor Entomology. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXI, pp. 381, 480, 577, 
 77 °, 853. 932 . 1029, 1118). 
 
 The joint-worm in New York. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXI, p. 381). 
 
 Relations of the ants and aphids. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXI, p. 382). 
 
 On the emergence of a caddice-fly from the water. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXI, 
 p. 480). 
 
 Note on the respiration of aquatic bugs. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXI, p. 577). 
 
 A new form of vial for alcoholic specimens. Fig. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXI, 
 P- 77 i)- 
 
 On the homologies of the wing-veins of insects. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXI, p. 
 932). (Review of paper by Redtenbacher.) 
 
 1888. An introduction to entomology; with many original illustrations drawn 
 and engraved by Anna Botsford Comstock. Ithaca, N. Y., 1888, pp. iv -+- 
 234. wdcts. 
 
 List of works on economic entomology, especially American. (In U. S.—Depart¬ 
 ment of Agriculture. List of books and pamphlets useful in agricultural 
 study and research, 1888). 
 
 Editor, Entomology, (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXII, pp. 68, 177, 260, 364, 468, 
 545. 654. 751. 842, 937, 1033, 1128). 
 
 The grass-eating thrips. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXII, p. 260). 
 
 A laboratory of Experimental Entomology. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXII, p. 
 468). 
 
 Color-relations between pup® and their surroundings. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. 
 XXII, p. 1033). 
 
 Serious injury to apples by the plum curculio. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXII, p. 
 I 035 -) 
 
 On the methods of experiments in economic entomology. Plate (Amer. Naturalist 
 Vol. XXII, p. 1128). 
 
 The insectary of Cornell University, figs. (In Cornell University — Agricultural 
 Experiment Station, Bulletin III, p. 25, Nov., 1888). 
 
 On preventing the ravages of wireworms. (In Cornell University — Agricultural 
 Experiment Station Bulletin, III, p. 31). 
 
 On the destruction of the plum curculio by poisons. (In Cornell University— 
 Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin III, p. 40.) 
 
 1889. The joint worm (Isosoma hordei). (In New York State Agricultural 
 Society Transactions, Vol. XXXIV, 1883-1884, p. 995. Albany, N. Y., 1889). 
 
 Report of the department of entomology. (In Cornell University — Agri. Experi¬ 
 ment Station. Report, 1888, p. 19. Ithaca, N. Y., 1889). 
 
 On a saw-fly borer in wheat, Cephus pygmaus Plate and wdcts. (In Cornell 
 University — Agricultural Experiment Station. Bulletin, Nov., 1889. No. 
 XI, p. 127). 
 
 The apple tree tent caterpillar, Clisiocampa amertcana. (In Cornell University — 
 Agricultural Experimental Station, Bulletin Dec., 1889. No. XV, p. 199). 
 
 Editor, Entomology. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXIII, pp. 61. 451). 
 
 On preventing the ravages of wireworms. (Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXIII, p 61). 
 
30 
 
 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
 1890. The clematis disease, or nematodes infesting plants. (In Western N. Y. 
 Hortic. Soc. Proceedings of the 35th meeting. Jan., 1890, p. 7). 
 
 Report of the entomologist. (In Cornell University—Agricul. Experiment 
 Station. Report 1889. p. 19. Ithaca, N. Y., 1890). 
 
 Insects injurious to fruits. (Cornell University — Agricultural Experiment 
 Station. Bulletin, Dec., 1890, No. XXIII, p. 103, illus.) Senior author with 
 M. V. Slingerlknd. 
 
 On the study of “bugs” (N. Y. Ledger, 1 March, 1890). 
 
 Beneficial insects. (N. Y. Ledger, 8 March, 1890). 
 
 On the destruction of insects. (N. Y. Ledger, 15, 22 March, 1890.) 
 
 The more important pests of the apple. (N. Y. Ledger, 29 March, 1890). 
 
 Some common garden pests. (N. Y. Ledger, 5 April, 1890). 
 
 1891. Report of the entomologist (In Cornell University—Third Ann. Report 
 of the Agri. Exper. Station, 1890, p. 35, Ithaca, N. Y., 1891). 
 
 Wireworms; results of efforts to discover a practicable method of preventing the 
 ravages of these pests, and a study of the life history of several common 
 species (Cornell University — Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin, Nov., 
 1891, No. 33, p. 193. Ulus.). Senior Author with M. V. Slingerland. 
 
 1892. Report of lecture before the California Zoological Club, Jan. 30, 1892. 
 Zol, Vol. Ill, pp. 84-86. 
 
 The descent of the Lepidoptera; an application of the theory of natural selection 
 to taxonomy. (In Amer. Assoc, for the Advancement of Science. Proc., 
 1842, Vol. XLI, p. 199). 
 
 1893. Evolution and taxonomy; an essay on the application of the theory of 
 natural selection in the classification of animals and plants, illustrated by a 
 study of the evolution of the wings of insects, and by a contribution to the 
 classification of the Lepidoptera. (In Wilder Quarter-Century Book, 1893, 
 pp. 37-113. Ulus.). 
 
 1895. A manual for the study of insects. Ithaca, N. Y., 1895, pp. x + 701, 
 6 plates and 798 wdcts. Senior author with Mrs. Anna Botsford Comstock. 
 
 The elements of insect anatomy. An outline for the use of students in entomologi¬ 
 cal laboratories. Ithaca, N. Y., 1895, pp. iv + 96, Figs. Senior author with 
 Vernon L. Kellogg. 
 
 Same. Revised Ed. Ithaca, N. Y., 1899, pp. 134. 
 
 Same. Third Ed. revised, Ithaca, N. Y., 1901, pp. 145. 
 
 The significance of the B.A. and Ph.B. degrees. Privately printedfor theuseof 
 the faculty of Cornell University. Ithaca, N. Y., 1895. 
 
 1899. The wings of insects. A series of articles on the structure and develop¬ 
 ment of the wings of insects, with special reference to the taxanomic value of 
 the characters presented by the wings. Reprinted from The American 
 Naturalist, with the addition of a table of contents. 124 pages, 90 figures. 
 Ithaca, N. Y., 1899. Senior author with James G. Needham. (The articles 
 appeared originally in The American Naturalist, Vol. XXXII, (1898), pp. 
 43. 81, 23/, 237, 240, 243, 249, 253, 256, 335, 413, 420, 423, 561, 769, 774, 903; 
 Vol. XXXIII, (1899), pp. 118, 573, 845, 851, 853, 858.] 
 
 Insect life. An introduction to nature-study and a guide for teachers, students, 
 and others interested in out-of-door life. New York, 1897, pp. 14 + 349. 
 6 plates and 252 wdcts. 
 
THE COMSTOCK MEMORIAL 
 
 3 1 
 
 The same, with full-page plates from life representing insects in natural colors. 
 18 plates, New York, 1901. 
 
 1901. Spiders. (Cornell Nature-Study Quarterly, May, 1901, No. 9, p. 228). 
 The wings of the Sesiidre (In Monograph of the Sesiid* by William Beutenmuller. 
 
 Memoirs Amer. Museum Nat. Hist. Vol. I, p. 220). 
 
 1902. The skeleton of the head of insects. -(Amer. Naturalist, Vol. XXXVI, 
 
 No. 421, pp. 13-45. 29 figures. Senior author with C. Kochi). 
 
 1903. A classification of North American Spiders. Ithaca, N. Y., 1903, pp. 56. 
 
 1904. How to know the butterflies. New York, 1904, pp. xii + 311. 45 
 
 colored plates and 50 wdcts. Senior author with Mrs. Anna Botsford Com¬ 
 stock. 
 
 1903. Outlines of lectures on the morphology and development of insects. 
 
 Ithaca, N. Y., 1905, pp. 51. Senior author with William Albert Riley. 
 
 1907. The hackled band in the webs of certain spiders. Proc. of the Amer. Ass. 
 for the Adv. of Sci., Vol. LVI, p. 280 (1906). 1907. 
 
 1909. A note on the habits of the wall-bee, Chalicodoma muraria. (Annales of 
 the Entom. Soc. of America. March, 1909, Vol. II, p. 9.) 
 
 1910. The palpi of male spiders. (Annales of the Entom. Soc. of America, Vol. 
 Ill, pp. 161-185, 2 5 figures). 
 
 1911. The present methods of teaching entomology. (Journ. of Economic 
 Entomology, Vol. IV, p. 53). 
 
 1912. The spider book; a manual for the study of spiders and their relatives, the 
 scorpions, pseudoscorpions, whipscorpions, harvestmen, and other members of 
 the class Arachnida, found in America north of Mexico, with analytical keys 
 for their classification and popular accounts of their habits. New York, 1912, 
 4 0 , pp. 721, 770 figures. 
 
 The evolution of the webs of spiders. (Annales of the Entom. Soc. of Amer. Vol. 
 V, p. 1. 
 
 The silk of spiders and its uses. The Trans, of the second Entomol. Congress 
 1912, pp. 10. 3 plates. 
 

 : .0 ■ >.&>• WV -■- ^--v' ^ 4 % • ‘- .r - . ^. v 
 
 • .'vvo^®‘ '•• -4^ '.j£y-l \: 
 
 - i. a■ . :-i >cm.'->- «*£<?»> *»j«.