SAMPLE OF THE SCRAP NOTES LEFT BY MISS ORMEROD RELATING TO THE GREAT WATER BEETLE RECOGNISED BY THE PRINCE OF WALES, NOW KING EDWARD VII., AT ST. ALBANS’ SHOW.
It was a great pleasure to me to
notice the appreciative interest that
their Royal Highnesses now our
gracious King & Queen took in the
habits of injurious insects. Her
Majesty’s discriminating observation
made me permit myself to say
that she should have been an Entomologist.
And our King recognised
at a glance the great water
beetles the Dytiscus marginalis
as a kind which he well
knew as injurious to fish spawn.
April 6, 1896.
Now I am working on my Exhibit of Economic Entomology for the Bath and West of England Society Show at St. Albans. I think you will perhaps like to look at the enclosed set of labels for the cases.[[59]] There are only a few lines to be fixed outside each. In the catalogue there is a fuller account, with prevention and remedy. Is it not a triumph of condensation to get a little life history and prevention and remedy of Wireworm into about half a dozen lines? But really there is enough if people would mind it. I try to give injured material wherever I can, and there are upwards of sixty infestations. Georgiana helps me with twenty diagrams—more beautiful than any of her previous ones—and the Council, who are very kind, have awarded us all the privileges of stewards and members of Council for the Show, so that we may have every convenience of transit there.
It gave me great pleasure to be appointed External Examiner in Agricultural Entomology at Edinburgh University—for besides enjoying such a great compliment it will help my work.
May 30, 1896.
N.B. Confidential. I want to tell you how kind and nice the Prince and Princess were at the Show. T.R.H. shook hands when they arrived, quite heartily, and when I had explained my own and my sister’s exhibit I thought I was to retire, but I found I was to attend round the other exhibits in the building, so I walked on by the Princess—just think, at the head of the Royal party, before the Prince and all of them! When we had gone round the Prince said, “Now, I think we must be going,” and he shook hands again, and the Princess, who was a little ahead, turned back and shook hands also. I was told by one of the officials that the Prince expressed himself afterwards as much interested, and my informant had told the Prince that I was doing work in this country which was done in other countries by the State. H.R.H. was so interested about the warbles that he called up Lord Clarendon to look at the great photo of the warbled red-deer’s hide too, and we had quite a chat together.
