J. H. Emerton.
Early History of the Cambridge Entomological Club.
Psyche 31(1):1-6, 1924.

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PSYCHE
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VOL. XXXI. FEBRUARY 1924 No. 1
EARLY HISTORY OF THE CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLO- GICAL CLUB.
Before the year 1874 the entomologists around Boston had been accustomed to meet as a section of the Boston Society of Natural History,l but some of them had ambitious plans in their minds: they wanted to publish a journal, to meet outside of Boston and to have members from all over the country, so a new society was planned and as a large proportion of the mem- bers lived in Cambridge, the society was formed there. January 9, 1874, at the house of H. A. Hagen, Putnam Street, Cambridge, the following persons met and agreed to form the Cambridge Entomological Club :
E. P. Austin
J. H. Emerton H. K. Morrison
Edw. Burgess
H. A. Hagen J. C. Munro
G. R. Crotch
S. Henshaw A. S. Packard
Geo. Dimmock
B. P. Mann E. A. Schwarz
S. H. Scudder
During the year a large number of members were elected, among them
H. G. Hubbard
F. G. Sanborn F. C. Bowditch
C. R. Osten-Sacken
G. D. Smith L. Trouvelot
Roland Thaxter
P. S. Sprague S. W. Williston
C. P. Whitney
Holmes Hinkley F. Blanchard
The only officer thought necessary was a sewetary, and B. P. Mann was elected to this office.
Meetings were held at
11n January 1864 members of the Boston Society of Natural History organized the Harris Entomological Club which formed the nucleus of the Section of Entomology which was organized Nov. 25, 1866 and continued to hold meetings until 1886. Its proceedings are reported in the published proceedings of the B. S. N. H.




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Psych 5 [February
Mam'a residence, 19 Follen St., in a little building in the yard nicknamed the "entornologicon," and the proceedings were much the same as at meetings of the Club to-day. At the fourth meeting, April 10, 1874, it was voted to publish an entomological journal for which. Scudder furnished the name, "Psyche." B. P. Mann was appointed editor, and the first part, of four pages, was issued in time for the next meeting on May 8. H. K. Morrison was appointed committee on excursions, and one was held at Waverly on May 7. At the sixth meeting, June 12, it was voted to hold the -
July meeting d t . W&ng%on, mid the August meeting st Hartford, Conn., in connection with the American Association for the Advancement of -Science.
Pig. 1. Camp of the Cambridge Entomological Club on Mount Wddngcon, July 1874, rom a drawing by J. ?I. Emfrton.
The seventh meeting, July 8, was held on Mt. Washington ,
in a camp quarter of a mile below the Halfway .House and fir enough into the woods to be out of sight of the road. Eight persons were present at the business session:



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19241 Early History of the Cambridge Entomological Club 3 W. B. Allen
G. M. Dimmock (father of George)
E. P. Austin
R. W. Greenleaf
F. Blanchard
B. P. Mann
Geo. Dimmock H. K. Morrison
The party was joined later by J. H. Emerton and J. C. Munro. The eighth meeting, August 14, 1874, at Hartford, Conn. was attended by Messrs. Austin, Dimmock and Mann, and they were joined by C. J. S. Bethune, S. S. Haldeman, J. L. Leconte, J. G. Morris, J. A. Lintner, C. V. Riley, Wm. Saunders, and other wellknown entomologists of the time. At the meeting of
September 11, The Entomological Club of the American Asso- ciation for the Advancement of Science was organized to con- tinue such meetings.
In the following year, July, 1875, another field meeting was held on Mt. Washington, this time with 24 persons-6 of them members of the Club,
18 guests: 10 of them men, 14.
women.
The August meeting; was again wit,h the American Association at Detroit, Mich.
In 1877, the Club was incorporated, a constitution and by-laws were adopted, and the membership revised, after which there were 24 resident members and 23 non-resident; a by-law defined a resident member as one who lived where he could attend meetings and get home the same night. The average attendance at meetings was for tlhe first year 11.1 ; second year, 11.8; third year, 7.4 The first volume of "Psyche" was finished in 1877 with a deficit of $128.39; the running expenses of t'he Club in 1877 having been only $3.00.
The first meeting of the executive committee was on March 17, 1877, when it was proposed to start the collection of a pub- lication fund of $2000. A circular was sent out in which was the following statement of the Club's objects: "While the headquarters of the Club are in Cambridge and its welfare would redound particularly to the credit of that city, its membership extends over the whole of North America and its advantages are offered with entire liberality to all the entomologists of the country, as far as practicable. There is but one other incorporated entomological society in the United States- The American Entomological Society in Philadelphia-and none other that is actually engaged at the present time in work of general interest."



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4 Psyche [February
June 13, 1879, a contract was made with Geo. Dimmock to publish Vol. 3 of "Psyche," beginning in 1880. By February, 1881, the resident membership had fallen to 16, while the non- reisdent had increased to 59. In December, 1882, the secretary, Mr. Dimmock, offers in "Psyche" to present at meetings papers by non-resident members and to send them on request reports of meetings. Books from the Club's library were sent. to distant members on payment of postage, but little use was made of these facilities. In 1882 the average attendance at meetings fell to 5.2 and in 1884 to 4.
The loss on Vol. 3 of "Psyche" was $252.60, which was paid by Mr. Dimmock, and a vote of thanks passed by the Club. In 1887 Mann moved away from Cambridge and the Club's library was taken to the Boston Society of Natural History. (Psyche" was not published between 1886 and 1888 for want of an editor, but it was taken up again by Scudder, who had built his new study in his garden and invited the Club in 1888 to meet and keep its library there.
The main interests of the Club at this time were the pub- lication of "Psyche" and the membership of entomologists all over the country, and the meetings of local members were small. Presidents were elected from prominent entomologists in distant places, their principal duty being to furnish an address at the end of their term. W. H. Ashmead of Washington was president in 1893 and T. M. Bean of Laggan in the Rocky Mountains in 1894.
By 1895 Scudder's health began to fail and meetings were held at Henshaw's house in Cambridge or Hayward's in Boston, usually with small attendance. The annual meeting of 1903 was adjourned from month to mont,h for want of a quorum, and the election took place only in April.
The original members of the Club had now nearly all given up an active part in its work. Austin, Dimmock, Mann, Mor- rison and Schwarz had moved away from Cambridge, Scudder was sick, and Hagen had died.
At t,his time a new set of men came into the Club. While
the Cambridge Club had been spending its strength in spreading its influence all over the continent, the local entomologists had



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19241 Early History of the Cambridge Entomological Club 5 formed another organization, the Harris Club.2 In 1895, W. L. W. Field became a member of the Cambridge Club and soon after was elected secretary; he was also a member of the Harris Club and arranged the union of these two organizations and at the meeting of December 26, 1902, the entire Harris Club was nominated for membrship.
March 13, 1903, at a meeting with three members present, Bowditch, Field and Hayward, 39 members of the Harris Club were elected. Many of these soon disappeared, but among them were a dozen active members for many years, some to the present P. G. Bolster W. F. Low A. C. Sampson
H. K. Burrison
John Lowell F. Sheriff
W. D. Denton H. H. Newcomb
L. W. Swett
H. H. Kirkland J. H. Rogers A. G. Weeks
December 26, 1902, S. Henshaw was elected editor of ((Psyche."
Meetings were held at the house of the Boston Society of Natural History and the annual meeting of 1903 (adjourned since January) was held on April 10, with 18 members present. During this year 0. W. Johnson and C. V. Blackburn were elected members. A commitltee, Messrs. Bolster, Field, Hen- shaw and Johnson, was appointed to take charge of "Psyche." Scudder's sickness had gone so far that, it was necessary to re- move the Club's library from his house, and having no other place to keep the books, the Club voted to give t,o t,he Boston Society of Natural History any books it might need and to sell the rest. Some of these were sold by auction at Club meetings by H. H. Newcomb and the proceeds used toward the expenses of "Psyche." Meetings were held at the Boston Society of Natural History, at J. H. Emerton7s room at 194 Clarendon St., and at the Appalachian Club's rooms in the Tremont The Harris Club (which has no relation to the Harris Entomological Club of 1866) was organized November 24, 1899 at 35 Court St., Boston in the office of H. H. Newcomb. W. I-. W. Field was elected secretary and continued in office until the union with the Cambridge Entomological Club in 1903. The records of the Club are deposited in the library of the Boston Society of Natural History.




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6 Psyche [~ebruar~
Building, and in emergencies at, H. H. Newcomb's office, 35 Court Street, with attendance of 12 to 13. December 6, 1904
a meeting was held at Wm. Denton's in Wellesley to see his butterflies, with attendance of 12 members and 5 guests. In 1904 to 1908 exhibitions of insects, open to the public, were held at the rooms of the Appalachian Club. The exhibition of November, 1908, included the following: H. H. Newcomb, 'Papilia turnus and qlaucus with intermediate forms.
A. P. Morse, Grasshoppers, showing methods of egg-laying. W. L. W. Field, North American Sphingidee. F. B. Low, Gipsy moth, Browntail, etc.
W. M. Wheeler, 85 species of Ants of New England. J. H. Emerton, Collection of 200 New England Spiders. Emerton & Swett, Collection of Lepidoptera. January 19, 1909, the amended by-laws, which had been in preparation for a long time, were adopted. March, 1909, the last of the books from the Club's library were sold, and the old record books deposited with the Boston Society of Natural History.
December, 1909, the Club entertained the entomologists attending the meeting of t,he American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science at a smoker at the Grundmann Studios, Clarendon Street.
At the annual meeting, January, 1910, the retiring president, P. G. Bolster, read a paper on the history of the Club. C. T. Brues was elected a member of the Club October 19, 1909, and editor of "Psyche" at the annual meeting, January, 1910. At the same meeting W. M. Wheeler was elected president, and at the meeting of February, 1910, the Club voted to hold its meetings at the Bussey Institution. This brings us to another period in the Club's life familiar enough to the present members, and so my story ends.




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