must be shrill oi- it will not be intense
enough for man to lieai- it. We know
that some insect sounds are so shrill
that they are above the audible range
of some humans. It is tempting to
wonder if many insects do not make
sounds too shrill foi- any of us to hear.
The determination of this is a matter of
bioplwsics and not easy. I spent most
of one summer working with the co-
operation of Doctoi- Thomas of the
Westinghouse Research Department
upon the problem, but we were not
successful. Such sounds may or may
not be made. We should know before
our speculations concerning the sounds
which we can hear but which certainly
are not made for our ears have become
so crystalized that we believe them to
be established facts instead of more or
less intelligent guesses. Furthermore,
if insects in general do communicate
with one another by means of sounds,
the sounds emploj^ed are doubtless
those above our audible range. /
The significance of insect sounds is
still an open subject and, while it is
altogether probable that some of these
sounds do have a biological signifi-
cance, I firmly believe that many of
them have none, being mereh' inciden-
tal lo actions that are not intended to
make a noise and to structures that
have arisen for some totally different
purpose or for no purpose at all.
C&tt^^^)®®®C
RALPH WINFRED TOWER
1870-1926
For twenty-three years Curator of Books and Publications and of Physiology in the
American Museum
214
Ralph Winfred Tower
1870-1926
By GEORGE H. SHERWOOD
ActiiiK Director, American Museum
ON the morning of January 26,
that dread disease, lincunionia,
struck down Ralph Winfred
Tower in the very prime of his man-
hood. He was onh'^ in his fifty-sixth
year and personal illness had been un-
known to him. Thus his death, coming
after a sickness of barely seven days,
has left his friends and associates
stunned by their unexpected loss.
Through Doctor Tower's death there is
a real void, not merely in the Library
staff, not merely in the Scientific Staff,
but in the personnel of the Museum as
a whole. Doctor Tower was so modest
and unassuming that we are only just
beginning to realize what an important
and necessary share he bore in the life
of the Museum and in scientific activi-
ties outside.
Ralph Winfred Tower was born at
Amherst, Massachusetts, May 24,
1870, the son of the Reverend Doctor
Francis Emory Tower and Ella Sophia
(Shepardson) Tower. His father was
a high-minded, forceful man, a
thorough student, and the valedic-
torian of his class at Amherst. From
his father Doctor Tower inherited his
studious nature and the great love of
books which is so outstanding in his
life work. His mother was one of the
most gentle and one of the sweetest
characters that it has ever been my
privilege to know. From her Doctor
Tower inherited his genial smiling
philosophy and his great love of music.
Doctor Tower's earliest education
was obtained in the public schools of
Allston, a suburb of Boston, and there
is some evidence that ins taste lor
study was not developed in those early
years. The back lots of Allston claimed
him whenever he could escape from
parental discipline. On these same
back lots was laid the foundation of his
strong constituaon and his athletic
ability, which won for him the coveted
B of Brown University as a pitcher on
the baseball team. Even in these early
days, however, he appreciated the value
of an education. One day his mother
heard a caller who was chatting with
him say, ''Do you like to go to school,
little boy?" and the youngster
replied, ''No, not very well, but Fd
rather go to school than grow up and
be a dunce."
Doctor Tower prepared for college
in the high schools of Brattleboro,
Vermont, and Bristol, Connecticut,
and from the latter he was graduated in
1888. His high-school studies gave
him some difficulty, especially algebra.
The principal in exasperation at his
slowness in grasping the problem said
before the whole class, "Well, you
3'oung divine, you will be out preach-
ing before you get that example done."
Young Tower was horribly mortified
and told his mother that he wasn't
going to have anything Hke that said
to him again. He not only passed his
algebra but received nearly the highest
mark in his class.
In the fall of 1888, Tower entered
Colb}^ College at Waterville, Maine,
where he remained two j-ears. Then,
finding that he could not get the courses
in science which he desired, he trans-
216
NATURAL HISTORY
ferred to Brown University, particu-
larly that he might study under
Alpheus S. Packard, a student of the
great Agassiz, and the great entomolo-
gist of his day. He was graduated
from Brown in 1892 and was im-
mediately appointed instructor in
biology. In addition to teaching he
carried on graduate work and took his
Master's Degree in June, 1893. His
biological training gave him a keen
interest in physiology and physiological
chemistry. He determined to make
this subject his specialty and to spend
a year of study in Germany.
In August, 1893, he married Bessie
Belle West and with his young bride
took up his residence in Leipzic, where
he could work under the great physi-
ologist. Prof. Max von Frey, of the
University of Leipzic.
Upon Tower's return from Germany
in the summer of 1894, President E.
Benjamin Andrews appointed him
demonstrator of anatomy, and the
following year asked him to develop a
course in physiological chemistry as a
part of the program for a strong biologi-
cal department at Brown. Tower
held the post of instructor in physio-
logical chemistry from 1895-99, when he
was promoted to the assistant profes-
sorship and later to the associate
professorship in this subject. He held
the latter position until 1903, when he
resigned to accept the dual post of
curator of physiology and curator of
books and publications in the American
Museum of Natural History, which he
filled for twenty-three years.
Tower's greatest service to the Mu-
seum and the lasting monument to his
memory is the Library, one of the
largest and finest devoted to natural
sciences in the world, which has been
developed by him from an insignificant
collection of books to the well balanced,
efficient research instrument of today.
The question is frequently asked,
How did Doctor Tower, a specialist in
physiology, happen to take up the
development of the Library as his life
work? The story dates back to the re-
organization of the biological depart-
ment of Brown University. President
Andrews appreciated the necessity of
having an up-to-date biological de-
partment in order to keep pace with
modern thought and modern sciences.
He appointed Dr. Herman C. Bumpus
the head of this department, and he in
turn gathered around him Dr. A. D.
Mead, Frederick H. Gorham, and
Ralph W. Tower. This nucleus of
young biologists laid the foundation
of the present strong department at
Brown. A library was one of the essen-
tials of such a department. Because of
Doctor Tower's acquaintance with
scientific literature, combined with his
innate love of books, he was entrusted
with the problem of building up the
department library, in addition to his
regular duties as instructor in physio-
logical chemistry. Funds were very
limited and a most judicious selection
of books had to be made. About this
time, 1898-99, the first of the Field
Concilium Bibliographicum cards came
out and the biological department sub-
scribed for a set. Doctor Tower
mastered the intricacies of this system
and put the department library on a
Field basis. Here, then, was a man,
trained in science and not bound by the
tradition of any library school, who
could apply his training in a common
sense way to the development of a
special library for workers in natural
science.
It was then that President Jesup
invited Doctor Tower to come to the
Museum as curator of books and
publications, and to devote himself to
h'ALP/I \VI\'Fh'h:i) roWI'lh'
217
buiUliii^ up an adcHiuntc lil)iar.\' tor the
Musouin. Doc'toi' Tower applied lii in-
self to this now fiekl witli sini>;l(Miess of
purpose and achieved marked success.
^^'hile our small Library of that time
did contain some rare and valual)le
works, they were inaccessible, and staff
members or others were discouraged
from usino- them. All of this was
changed immediately. Doctor Tower
organized the existing material, in-
stalled the Field Concilium Classifica-
tion System, and then bj^ a most careful
selection of books and through ex-
changes added to the supply until today
the Library contains more than 100,000
volumes. In the meantime through his
conviction that the efficiency of a
librar}^ is determined by its practical
use, he encouraged inter-library loans
to assist research workers in all parts
of the country, and otherwise adminis-
tered the library in a liberal spirit of
cooperation. It is this spirit of help-
fulness that is one of the greatest
assets of our Library today.
Largely through his influence and be-
cause of confidence in him, the Library
of the New York Academy of Sciences
was deposited in the Museum in 1903.
The Academy Library was rich in
serial publications of learned societies.
Doctor Tower did not try to duplicate
the Academy Library but rather used
it to supplement the Museum Library.
Thus, during the last twenty-three
years, although the two libraries were
kept distinct on paper, they were
physically treated as a unit. This
plan w^orked advantageously for both
institutions, but at last a point was
reached where it was imperative that
the Academy Library should definitely
become a part of the Museum Library
in order to safeguard for all time this
essential unity of operation. Doctor
Tower realized the importance of
Miei-i^in<i- these two ncii collections that
su pplen lented one another so admirably
and oik; of his last official acts was to
carry out the details of the plan. The
jnu-chase was made possible through
the genei'osity of Mr. Ogden Mills, a
Trustee of the Museum and a devoted
patron of the Library.
Although books and publications
became Doctor Tower's life w^ork, he
never lost interest in his first love,
physiology. The Library, however, so
absorbed his attention that he had
little time to devote to his physio-
logical researches. Nevertheless,
through the literature and his contact
with medical men and other scientists
he kept himself informed of the
general progress in this science.
Between 1895 and 1908, Doctor
Tower published eleven scientific
treatises. The most important of these
was his thesis on "The Gas in the
Swim-Bladder of Fishes," representing
the results of his investigations in the
biological laboratory of the U. S.
Fish Commission at Woods Hole,
Massachusetts, which was accepted as
his thesis for the degree of Ph.D., con-
ferred upon him by Brown University.
The function of the swim-bladder in
fishes and the production of sound by
fishes continued to interest him, and his
last paper on this subject was published
in the Annals of the New^ York
Academy of Sciences in 1908, under the
title "The Production of Sound in the
Drumfishes, the Sea-Robin and the
Toadfish."
It is quite natural to think of Doctor
Tower's service to the Museum in the
terms of the Library, because this was
his greatest achievement, but his parti-
cipation in other Museum activities
was of nearly equal importance. This
is particularly true of his ser\dce on the
Pension Board and on various com-
218
NATURAL HISTORY
mittees. He was a member of the
Pension Board from its creation, and
no one could have taken a greater
interest in the individual problems of
the employees than he. In the councils
of the Pension Board and in informal
conferences on the welfare of employees,
Doctor Tower's opinion commanded
the respect of his colleagues, and
through his sympathetic understanding
of the condition of the employees he
gained their loyalty and devotion.
Doctor Tower's strong sense of justice,
his belief in the equality of each mem-
ber of the Pension System, his firmness
in standing for what he believed was
right, and his practical common sense
in analyzing difficult problems have
contributed much to the maintenance
of the integrity of our Pension System,
of which we are justly proud.
Closely associated with official pen-
sion and welfare work was his service
to our employees as general physical
adviser and in the giving of first aid.
His efficiency and unostentatious
ministrations in these emergencies
inspired all with confidence. His
bright and cheery smile lifted many an
employee out of despondency and
started him on the road to recovery. A
characteristic trait which endeared
him to the entire personnel of the
Museum was his willingness to give
freely of his knowledge and of his time
to the humblest of our employees as
well as to his most intimate friends.
Considered from the standpoint of this
activity alone, his death has caused a
sad loss.
For about fifteen years Doctor
Tower was secretary of the publication
committee of the Museum, and in this
ofl&ce his knowledge and advice were of
the utmost value. In 1922 he was
placed in charge of the printing shop,
and through his executive ability and
technical knowledge of publication, as
well as his conservative recommenda-
tions, a printing plant of high efficiency
and low cost was developed. Doctor
Towner applied his customary thorough-
ness to the business of printing and
handled with equal tact both the labor
problems within and the pressing de-
partmentail claims for production.
In addition to his manifold duties as
a Museum officer. Doctor Tower gave
of himself most generously to other
activities which he felt would advance
science or education. This is especially
true of his long service in connection
with the New York Academy of
Sciences. For twenty-three years he
was its librarian, and for nine years its
editor.
His most conspicuous contribution to
the Xew York Academy was his nine
years of service as its recording secre-
tary, which per se made him its prin-
cipal executive officer. His wide
acquaintance with scientific matters,
his appreciation of the scientist's view
point, and his administrative ability
fitted him to be an ideal representative
of this distinguished society, while his
ability, his good judgment, his clear
perspective, and sound advice made
him an invaluable adjunct to its Coun-
cil, and won for him the high respect
and honor of all his fellow members of
the Academy and its affiliated societies.
At a Memorial service held in the
reading room of the Library on Wed-
nesdaj' afternoon, January 27, the
day following Doctor Tower's death,
President Osborn and other Museum
officers paid an eloquent tribute to
Doctor Tower's life and work. At this
time also Professor Henry E. Cramp-
ton, president of the New York Acad-
emy of Sciences, so forcefully depicted
Doctor Tower's dominant qualities of
character and his genius that I have
RALPH W INF RED TOWER
219
requested peiiiiissioii to incorporate his
remarks in this article.
On this occasion, it is my privilcjic to say a
few words about our colleague who has passed
away, as an officer of the New York Academy
of Sciences; but this privilege is assumed with
the greatest chfKculty, for I knew liim not
only as an associate in the Academy but also
as a friend during a long period of time.
I like to recall Ralph Tower as I first knew
him nearly thirty-three years ago when he
came to the Biological Laboratorj' at Woods
Hole, then in its earlier and more primitive
daj's. He was one of a notable group of young
workers in the full flush of enthusiasm for their
studies in zoology. Among others, from
Brown University came Gorham, Straus, and
later Sherwood, and from Williams there were
Peabody, Conant, and Harrington, — two of
whom were soon to sacrifice their lives in the
quest for new knowledge. And in that group,
Ralph Tower was a central figure, always
earnest, rehable, and even-tempered, and a
man whose winning personal qualities made a
real friend of everyone who came to know him.
The years passed, and he came to the
American Museum to undertake the exacting
duties which he discharged for so long a time,
bringing to his new occupations all of the
sterling qualities he had possessed at the out-
set and all that he had gained through his
work in science. Later he entered the service
of the New York Academy of Sciences, and
assumed one office after another — librarian,
editor, and recording secretary — until the
work of this venerable organization came to be
wholly under his direction.
Among the many fine attributes of char-
acter and charm that he possessed, to me his
outstanchng personal quality was the sincere
honesty of his every thought and word and
action. From this arose the sound judgment
upon which all of his associates relied; be-
cause of this, also, he was intolerant of sham
and pretense, as he was equally ready to ap-
preciate real merit where he found it. And
the standards by which he judged others
were no more exacting than those which he set
for his own thought and conduct.
The Academy has lost a devoted and faith-
ful officer, while every one of us has lost a
friend. The ranks close up and we go for-
ward, as we must. Yet in the future, we who
knew him, almost will feel the presence of our
friend; when problems arise, and we shall ask
"What would Tower think about this?"
almost we shall hear the calm words of advice
and judgment, as we did in the past.
In conclusion, may I quote a few words
whieli to riiN iiiind express so adequately the
spirit of sucli a man as Ralph Tower and of all
like him who engage in the sincere sear(;h for
knowledge and truth. Thej' are the words of a
great poet, Whittier, and they voice the
spirit of a great naturalist, Agassiz, who with
his students had lately begun the work at the
unicjue seaside laboratory- on the island of
Penikese:
We have come in search of Truth,
Trying, with uncertain key.
Door by door of mystery.
We are reaching, through His laws,
To the garrnent-liem of Cause,
As, with fingers of the bHnd,
We are groping here to find
What the hieroglyphics mean
Of the Unseen in the Seen;
What the thought that underlies
Nature's masking and disguise;
What it is that lies beneath
Blight and bloom and birth and death.
Although Museum and Academy
interests absorbed most of Doctor
Tower's energy, he nevertheless made
his contribution to civic affairs, among
which were his fifteen years of service
on the Library Board of his home city,
New Rochelle, first as Treasurer for
nine years and then as President of the
Board for the last six years. It was
during his term of office that the new
library building was erected and he
had much to do with bringing it to its
present efficiency.
One of my most cherished posses-
sions is my long friendship with Doctor
Tower, which extends over a continu-
ous period of nearly thirty years. We
were comrades in all that that word can
mean. We worked together, we played
together, we shared our sorrows and
our joys. My comrade has gone but
I feel that his spirit is still with us and
will inspireus to better work. I know
that this is a better world because he
lived in it and it is with real feeling
that I say,
He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.
Jugatae, the entomological club at Cornell University
NOTES
ENTOMOLOGY IN THE
UNITED STATES
No other group of animals engages the
professional work of so many students as does
Hexapoda, the insects; and, with the possible
exception of birds, no other group fascinates
so many amateurs.
It is indeed a backward state that does not
have at least one professional entomologist
in its official family and some states have well-
equipped departments devoted to this study.
Then, there is the Bureau of Entomology of
the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The
Bureau maintains headquarters in Washing-
ton but its activities are widespread. For
example, in cooperation with New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, it maintains at Riverton, New
Jersey, a Japanese Beetle Laboratory that em-
ployed about two hundred men last summer.
There is an American Association of
Economic Entomologists that since 1908 has
published the, Journal of Economic Entomology.
The Annals of the Entomological Society of
America is the official organ of another na-
tional society, in this case devoted to pure
rather than to applied entomology. A number
of societies, primarily amateur and local in
character, publish journals of great scientific
importance and world-wide circulation. One
of these, the New York Entomological Society,
has for more than thirty years been closely
asscJciated with the American Museum.
Not so long ago it was possible for a young
man or woman to become a professional ento-
mologist by the apprentice route, just as
they could become la^\n'ers by "reading" in
an office, but now entomology is a graduate
study in our larger universities. The accom-
panying illustration is a picture of Jugatae,
an entomological club made up of students
and teachers in Cornell. Seated in the center
of the front row are Professor and Mrs.
Comstock, than whom no one in America
has done more to stimulate interest in and
diffuse knowledge about insects, spiders, and
nature in general. The second person at
Professor Comstock's right is Professor Need-
ham, America's leading authority on aquatic
insects.
It is with a great deal of pleasure, alljeit
tinged somewhat with envy, that the American
Museum presents to its readers a picture of
some of the workers in the best-manned de-
partment of entomology of any museum — â–
that of the U. S. National Museum. As a
matter of organization, most of these workers
are connected with the L'. S. Department of
Agriculture; but, as a matter of practice,
they are on the staff of the Museum.
Number 11 in the picture is Dr. L. O.
Howard, honorary curator in the Museum,
chief of the federal B\ireau of Entomology,
and, incidentally, the author of one of the
articles in this issue of Natural Hlstory.
Number 9, Dr. E. A. Schwarz, has long been
an outstanding authority on beetles and is
honorary custodian of Coleoptera. Other
coleopterists are Dr. A. G. Boving (4), ]Mr.
W. S. Fisher (13), and :^Ir. H. S. Barber (14j.
Dr. H. G. Dyar (8), honorary custodian of
Lepidoptera, is an independent worker who is
donating his services to the Museum. Dr.
William Schaus (3) is also an authority on
luitterflies and moths. Unfortunately, the
220
XOTKS
221
l)icl lire (Iocs ikiI sluiw I \\n it\ her lc|)i(l(>])lL'risl.s
of the staff, Messrs. Heinricli and Busek.
Neither does it show Doctor Akh-ich, who is a
well-known specialist on flies and has charfiic
of the Museum side of the insect work. Other
dipterologists are Mi-. ('. T. Greene (2), and
Mr. R. C. Shannon (12). Mr. S. A. Rohwer
(10) is in charge of the taxonomic investiga-
tions of the 15urcau of Ent()niolo"-v and hoiio-
nici'linfi of ihr i'jiloiiiolo;;ical Society of
London last year. It was di.scovcred by Sir
.\rtimr Evans in Greece and apparently dates
from al)Out 1500 B.C., Butterflies arc ased to
symbolize the soul and the engraver evidently
had some knowledge of entomology, for he not
only depicts the chrysalis from which an adult
butterfly emerges, but he has carved a recog-
nizal)le Pieriiic Imllci-nx- and associ;itc(l it
Some of the entomological workers attached to the U. S. National Museum
rary custodian of Hymenoptera in the
National Museum. Other students of this
order, which includes ants, bees, and wasps,
are Mr. A. B. Gahan (1), Dr. W. M. Mann (6),
Mr. R. A. Cushman (15), and Mr. Weld (not
shown). Mr. A. N. Caudell (5) is concerned
with grasshoppers and their relatives; and
Dr. H. E. Ewing (7) with mites and various
insect parasites of warm-blooded animals.
The others shown are a few of the National
Museum's staff of entomological preparators,
clerks, and artists. The American Museum
most warmly congratulates its sister institu-
tion on having such a large number of helpers
and on the work that they are donig.
AN ANCIENT RING OF ENTOMO-
LOGICAL BEARING
Professor E. B. Poulton, in a personal letter
to President Henry Fairfield Osborn, called
attention to an ancient ring that has an ento-
mological bearing and was reported upon at a
with the right sort of chrysalis. This ante-
dates Aristotle by more than a thousand