VIII. The Year 1888–1889; With a Winter in Germany

This chapter discusses Anna Botsford and John Henry Comstock's trip abroad to Germany. For a long time, Henry had struggled with the German language, in which so many treatises on zoology were written. He had finally concluded that a winter in Germany was necessary before he finished Part II of the textbook An Introduction to Entomology. Henry at once arranged for his university work under Rudolph Leuckart, the celebrated zoologist. Women were not admitted to the University of Leipsic at that time, but Professor Leuckart permitted Anna to attend one of his lectures, asking only that she came early and departed late—before and after the regular students. Back at Cornell University, after the Germany trip, the summer term of 1889 in entomology was well attended and Henry, as usual, enjoyed the summer teaching very much. He felt that leading his pupils to see the insects living in their natural environment was most important.