University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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10 THE 1906 INDEX, VOLUME XXXM remained a life-long friend of Professor Fernald. Near the close of the Rebel- lion he was detailed to the United States Coast Survey, where he had charge of the hydrographical work in the survey of some of the sounds and rivers near Savannah, Ga. While in the navy Professor Fernald completed his college studies, and after his return Bowdoin College gave him the degree of Master of Arts. At the close of the war he resigned his position and returned to his home in Maine and was soon elected principal of the Academy at Litchfield, Me., with his wife, who was a graduate of the Female College at Kent ' s Hill, Me., as first assistant. At the end of the year he was called to take charge of Houlton Academy, at that time the largest institution of its grade in the State. After five years in Houl- ton, Professor Fernald wa5 called to the chair of Natural History in the Univer- sity of Maine, where he remained for fifteen years, when he was called to the Massachusetts Agricultural College as Professor of Zoology. The development of the department of zoology in this college is very closely connected with his life during the past eighteen years. His interest in his own department, and in the college as a whole, has been, and is still, felt to a marked degree. Very soon after coming here he introduced laboratory work into his department, and it has now become an established part of the several courses. About two years later he was appointed entomologist to the Hatch Experiment Station. Still later there was such an urgent demand for a graduate course in entomology leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy that such a course was organized and arranged by Professor Fernald and his son, Dr. H. T. Fer- nald, who was called from Pennsylvania to this institution as Professor of Entomology. This course is considered at present the most advanced, thor- oughly scientific, and at the same time entirely practical course of study in entomology offered to the student anywhere in the world, and has been highly commended both in America and Europe. Professor Fernald first became interested in entomology while teaching at Houlton Academy. His summer vacations were spent in different places where he could study under the most favorable circumstances, spending one summer with the United States Fish Commission at Eastport, Me., another with Pro- fessor Agassiz at his famous seaside school of zoology on Penekese Island, and many vacations at the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge with Dr. Hagen. He also made two trips to Europe, carrying over large collections of North American insects for study and comparison in European museums and in the private collections of many of the leading entomologists of Europe. He has long been interested in collecting and studying the Microlepidoptera of this country, and is still at work on this group. His private collection of insects is very large and in the family ' l ortricid;r is unsurpassed.

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1 M Charles Henry Fernald. A. M., Ph. D. ROFESSOR CHARLES HENRY FERNALD belongs to that class of men who have arrived at prime old age, leaving behind them a life made up of brilliant scholarly accomplish- ments and noble, generous efforts to uplift mankind. In pass- ing over the lives of such men we seem to hear the command, Go thou and do likewise. In reviewing, even in a brief ' ay, the life and work of Professor Fernald, we are taught by example the noble lesson of honest, persistent endeavor. He was born March i6, 1838, on Mt. Desert Lsland, off the coast of Maine. His father owned a large farm in Hancock County, Me., situated on the southern coast of the island at the mouth of Somes Sound, and on this farm Professor Fernald spent his youth, attending school about two months during the winter and six weeks in the summer, until he was sixteen years of age, after which time he spent his summers at sea and his winters teaching in the public schools. In his early life he was ambitious to become a sea captain, and, while he was still very young, began to educate and fit himself for that profession, tak- ing up by himself many studies not taught in the public schools of that time; and, with some assistance from his uncle, he studied navigation and learned the use of nautical instruments. During the time he followed the sea he filled every position on ship-board, passing through the grades of ' sailor before the mast, cook, steward, second-mate, first-mate, sailing master, and was prepared to take command at the age of twenty-one; but he decided to go to a high grade school to fit himself more fully for the duties of a ship-master. Accordingly he went to the Maine Wesleyan Seminary and Female College, where he found himself associated with three huridred or more students, and for the first time in his life realized what was meant by an educational atmosphere. This so influenced him that he immediately decided to fit for college, and changed his whole line of study with the intention of entering Bowdoin College as a Junior. Two years afterward the Rebellion broke out and all his class-mates went into the army. As he had been a sailor, he preferred the navy and enlisted as a seaman. He first went on board the U. S. S. Housatonic, but during his term of service served on nearly every grade of ship in the navy. Sfiortly after enlisting he was appointed master ' s mate, and a year later passed his examination and was pro- moted to the rank of ensign. At one time he was on the monitor Patapsco as w ard-room officer with the late Rear Admiral Sampson, then a lieutenant, who

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MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE Entomology in the earlier years of the agricultural colleges was taught in a very imperfect and unscientific manner, but it has now been systematized and raised to a scientific standard and rendered capable of yielding the most import- ant results in field and laboratory researches, and no one has done more to bring this about than the subject of this sketch. Professor Fernald has written a great deal on entomological subjects and has published many important works, among which may be mentioned a Cata- logue of the Tortricidae of North America, Butterflies of Maine, Sphingidte of New England, Grasses of Maine, The History and Anatomy of Chaetonotus larus, Orthoptera of New England, ten Annual Reports on the Gypsy Moth, Crambidas of North America, Pterophoridas of North Anierica; in conjunction with Mr. Forbusha large and complete Report on the Gypsy Moth and with Mr. Kirkland two Reports on the Brown-tail Moth. He has also assisted Prof. J. B. Smith in the preparation of a List of Lepidoptera of Boreal America, and Dr. H. G. Dyar in his List of North American Lepidoptera, and has published numerous articles in journals both in Europe and America. He is at present preparing a mono- graph on several sub-families of the Pyralida; of North America. His private library is very large and contains many rare and interesting works on ento- mology, and he is a member of numerous scientific societies both in this country and abroad. Throughout all his work Professor Fernald shows those sterling qualities which he acquired early in life. Keen of observation, self-reliant and diligent, he is capable of the most thorough work. Still hale and hearty. Professor Fer- nald is probably one of the oldest active entomologists, as well as one of the foremost scientists, in this country. — 1 1 m i 1 « iS i ™hi T I K i?! i ' llF 1