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Post by nomad on Dec 14, 2016 14:45:05 GMT
No time for Entomology or forums, we all lead busy lives!!
Let's have a brief look at the live of James William Tutt (1858–1911) an English Entomologist.
Tutt was born with a defective heart and doctors told him to lead an easy life. Tutt was not a man to do anything by halves. Born to teach, Tutt was a headmaster at various London schools. Arriving early in the morning Tutt arrived home in the evening.
Tutt probably did not have to do all those irksome chores. Cleaning the house and shopping and then cooking the goodies and all those other mundane things we lesser mortals have to do. Nor did Tutt have an automobile to get to places quickly.
Yet Tutt still found a lot of time for Entomology. He founded and was the editor of the Entomological Record and Journal of Variation which is still going strong today.
Tutt wrote hundreds of articles for the E. R. J. V. and other journals.
Tutt managed to write nine lengthy monumental books of a projected eleven volume series of his A Natural History of British Lepidoptera.
Tutt wrote a four volume work, British Noctuae and their Varieties.
Tutt also wrote Melanism and Melanochroism in British Lepidoptera, Tutt's British Butterflies, Practical Hints for the Field Lepidopterist, British Moths, Random Recollections of Woodland Fen and Hill and Rambles in Alpine Valleys.
Tutt was a very active member of the South London Entomological Society.
Tutt was an avid field collector. After a night sugaring in a wood, an older entomologist saw Tutt remove box after box of specimens to place in a larger container. When the old entomologist said that he was surprised how many moths were in the boxes, Tutt replied, its no good taking one or two you need a series to understand any species. You know they will all be set today.
So the next time you think you have little time for Entomology including Forums, think Tutt Tutt.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 14, 2016 14:56:37 GMT
Thank you very much for posting this inspirational story about a man I only knew from Ent. Rec. and his publications.
Adam.
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Post by Paul K on Dec 14, 2016 15:01:02 GMT
No time for Entomology or forums, we all lead busy lives!! Let's have a brief look at the live of James William Tutt (1858–1911) an English Entomologist. Tutt was born with a defective heart and doctors told him to lead an easy life. Tutt was not a man to do anything by halves. Born to teach, Tutt was a headmaster at various London schools. Arriving early in the morning Tutt arrived home in the evening. Tutt probably did not have to do all those irksome chores. Cleaning the house and shopping and then cooking the goodies and all those other mundane things we lesser mortals have to do. Nor did Tutt have an automobile to get to places quickly. Yet Tutt still found a lot of time for Entomology. He founded and was the editor of the Entomological Record and Journal of Variation which is still going strong today. Tutt wrote hundreds of articles for the E. R. J. V. and other journals. Tutt managed to write nine lengthy monumental books of a projected eleven volumes of his A Natural History of British Lepidoptera.
Tutt wrote a four volume work, British Noctuae and their Varieties.
Tutt also wrote Melanism and Melanochroism in British Lepidoptera, Tutt's British Butterflies, Practical Hints for the Field Lepidopterist, British Moths, Random Recollections of Woodland Fen and Hill and Rambles in Alpine Valleys.
Tutt was a very active member of the South London Entomological Society. Tutt was an avid field collector. After a night sugaring in a wood, an older entomologist saw Tutt remove box after box of specimens to place in a larger container. When the old entomologist said that he was surprised how many moths were in the boxes, Tutt replied, its no good taking one or two you need a series to understand any species. You know they will all be set today. So the next time you think you have little time for Entomology including Forums, think Tutt Tutt. ...but Tutt Tutt didn't have internet, Facebook, game consoles, 200 TV Chanel's to flip thru, YouTube and so on...
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Post by nomad on Dec 14, 2016 15:09:43 GMT
but Tutt Tutt didn't have internet, Facebook, game consoles, 200 TV Chanel's to flip thru, YouTube and so on... Yes, Tutt was fortunate indeed
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Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 14, 2016 15:53:52 GMT
He was fortunate not to have Facebook, game consoles, 200 TV channels, YouTube and similar frivolities, but I suspect that he would have appreciated the instant access to much entomological information available through the internet.
Michael Yeh (oxdelphis) e-mailed me a couple of days ago about various issues including "Fewer and fewer (or none at all) butterfly collectors are found in the Asian countries and in Malaysia not a single one of them left. No youngsters are interested."
Paul K's list of distractions is probably the main reason why.
Adam.
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Post by nomad on Dec 14, 2016 16:35:19 GMT
I believe not having access to the internet, makes Tutt's work and others of that period more remarkable. Tutt's volumes of the A Natural History of British Lepidoptera, which he was never able to finish, included an amazing account of the European aberrations, varieties and subspecies of those species that he covered that were found in Britain. Also included were localities and a range of flight times.
When I research a subject, I have a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips, a Web library. Even this is very time consuming, some search requests do not work, plus the genus and species names may have changed many times. There is a wealth of information not on the web that has to be found in books. Luckily for those subjects that interest me I am well stocked. There are as I have said limits to web information. The Transactions of the Entomological Society of London and the Journal, The Entomologist were only digitized up to 1922!! The Entomologist's Gazette, probably due to copyright was never digitized at all. As for information in German journals for example, I have to write it down and translate it, that is if I can spot a reference in the first place. Tutt must have had a very good library at his disposal and was able to read at least French and German.
My idea of Tutt Tutt, was hopefully to encourage more members to contribute to the Forum.
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Post by johnml on Dec 14, 2016 17:29:57 GMT
I would love to contribute to the forum,the main reason I don't is the same reason why I enjoy reading the posts.That is the wealth of scientific knowledge that the main contributors have,almost all appear to be experts in one thing or another.This makes fascinating reading but with my very limited knowledge I find it difficult to know how to contribute?
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T.C.
New Aurelian
Posts: 49
Country: United States
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Post by T.C. on Dec 14, 2016 18:00:33 GMT
I would love to contribute to the forum,the main reason I don't is the same reason why I enjoy reading the posts.That is the wealth of scientific knowledge that the main contributors have,almost all appear to be experts in one thing or another.This makes fascinating reading but with my very limited knowledge I find it difficult to know how to contribute? Hey, johnml. Don't worry about that too much. I know there is a lot of professionals here and I am not one of those. I just contribute where i can, I am pretty good at ID's so I will throw in my two cents in that area. I don't need to pretend to be a professional either, I just enjoy insect keeping and entomology. No need to be a pro to participate. I highly doubt anyone here will judge you for your limited knowlegde on the topic. I personally come here to learn, talk with other people into entomology and just enjoy myself.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Dec 14, 2016 18:02:47 GMT
I would love to contribute to the forum,the main reason I don't is the same reason why I enjoy reading the posts.That is the wealth of scientific knowledge that the main contributors have,almost all appear to be experts in one thing or another.This makes fascinating reading but with my very limited knowledge I find it difficult to know how to contribute? Everyone has something to contribute! Share some interesting anecdotes, photos of favourite specimens - and perhaps the reasons why they are favourites - we look forward to your thoughts!
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Post by nomad on Dec 14, 2016 19:06:50 GMT
I know there is a lot of professionals here As far as I am aware, very few professional Entomologists post here regularly. I am a happy amateur Entomologist. By the definition of a professional it just means you do Entomology for a living. Entomology is such a vast subject than every one can enjoy the different aspects of our Hobby and almost every time I read a post by a member I learn new things, and that is what made ICF a special Entomological Community. So the more posts here the better.
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Post by cabintom on Dec 14, 2016 19:56:56 GMT
As someone who's only really been at this hobby for the past 3 years, I've probably got limited experience, but it has seemed to me that if someone starts asking / posting about a particular group or species from a particular area, it seems that others start to come out of the woodwork.
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Post by timmsyrj on Dec 14, 2016 21:03:54 GMT
but Tutt Tutt didn't have internet, Facebook, game consoles, 200 TV Chanel's to flip thru, YouTube and so on... Yes, Tutt was fortunate indeed He also never had habitat loss, conservationists or environmentalists in the numbers we have to put up with today. Rich
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Post by timmsyrj on Dec 14, 2016 21:11:15 GMT
I would love to contribute to the forum,the main reason I don't is the same reason why I enjoy reading the posts.That is the wealth of scientific knowledge that the main contributors have,almost all appear to be experts in one thing or another.This makes fascinating reading but with my very limited knowledge I find it difficult to know how to contribute? Everyone has something to contribute! Share some interesting anecdotes, photos of favourite specimens - and perhaps the reasons why they are favourites - we look forward to your thoughts! Everyone has something to contribute for sure, more importantly we ALL have more to learn about our hobby, and these forums and the contributors are very important for us all, you may have knowledge of a local species to you that no one else has because they are very localised. All contributions will get some form of response, very rarely negative, and don't be affraid to make mistakes, as the saying goes "we all learn from our mistakes" I for one plan on a lot more learning !! Rich
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Post by hewi on Dec 15, 2016 9:55:04 GMT
Another reason to write nothing or little here is the difficulty to formulate everything in English. For me, as someone with another mother tongue, it is quite difficult to make longer or more complex explanations.
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Post by trehopr1 on Dec 15, 2016 10:05:30 GMT
One cannot help but admire the body of work that men like James Tutt accomplished in their lifetimes. It's astounding. Especially, when one considers that people of that period generally did'nt live the ripe old ages that they do now (thanks to all the medical advancements ). Another individual of steadfast dedication and fortitude whose efforts I hold in high regard is the lepidopterist Herman Strecker. I intend to write up an article on this remarkable man down the road when time allows me. I spent 8 wonderful years with this man's collection in my presence (at a job I once held at a museum near my home). I copied some records of the man's life and works which I found in some old files over the years I worked there. I was also able to get some insights about the man from an old curator whom I worked with and whom has now passed away. In short, Hermen Strecker was a sculptor / monument maker (by day) as a profession and a lepidopterist (at night). He rode a train to work every morning and then again in the early evening. He would then have a meal and then go right to it for 4 or 5 hours (on his hobby). He only lived to be 65 but, in that time he amassed a personal collection numbering right around 50,000 specimens. He was the first to name and describe 251 species of Lepidoptera which bear his name today. Over a period of 5 years between (1872-1877) he diligently worked at describing and illustrating approximately 300 specimens of Lepidoptera in 15 parts to form a book. These parts contained 15 numbered and "hand-colored" lithographic plates. Only 300 copies were produced at HIS cost. He came to know all the big name lepidopterists and collectors of his day and even had some bitter disagreements with some. He corresponded extensively and traded actively for things he did'nt have. He has hundreds of monuments spread throughout Reading Pennsylvania cemeteries featuring his sculpting talents. Some are huge works done for wealthy families at the time. Some are giant in size with angels adorning them. Anyway, there are many more things to say but, I'll have to save that for my future article !
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