We deeply regret to notice that Miss Eleanor A. Ormerod
has been compelled to resign her office as consulting entomo- logist to the Royal Agricultural Society. According to a statement in the Times, confirmed in great part by a letter from Miss Ormerod herself, she has been rather shabbily treated. She was appointed some years since, being by universal consent the first authority on the insects which destroy crops, and since then has been of invaluable aid to the Society. Recently, however, its managers permitted the newly established Board of Agriculture to republish her reports on the various insect-pests as leaflets, without either remuneration or acknowledgment ; and when Miss Ormerod complained, they argued that, as an officer of the Society, her work belonged to them. This claim, under threat of legal proceedings, was withdrawn ; but Miss Ormerod thought it better to resign. It is hardly possible to think of work more directly beneficial to the human race than Miss Ormerod's, and it is not a little curious that her special position in regard to agriculture should be occupied by a woman.
Previous page
