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1962
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
71
EDWIN PAUL MEINERS (1893-1960)
We regret to report the death on October 28, 1960 of the veteran entomologist and physician Dr. Edwin Paul Meiners of St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Meiners was a Charter Member and long a Sustaining Member of the Lepidopterists' Society and contributed several articles to the pages of the Lepidopterists News (see bibliography at the end
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of this obituary). From early boyhood he was an ardent lepidopterist and continued this interest until his death.
Edwin Meiners was born in Troy, Illinois, on February 11, 1893. His grandfather emigrated to America in 1849 and came first to St. Louis, later locating in Troy, a small town of about 2000, where he remained for the rest of his life. He owned and operated the White Horse Tavern which became famous as a stopping place in the stage coach days when the old National Road was the main artery of travel between the East and the West. Edwin's father, Frederick Meiners, Jr., was born and raised in Troy and continued the family business which expanded into the Central Hotel. His mother was Eliza Pfaff and he was the oldest of five children born to William and Eliza Meiners. He is survived by three brothers.
In a detailed and careful autobiography and family genealogy which Edwin Meiners wrote a few years before his death, he says of his father: "His life exhibited very markedly the characteristics of the German as we are wont to think of him in the days when he was loved by all; non-aggressive, modest Hanoverian Teuton, a sincere lover of home and children and all the comforts of life as best summed up and expressed in the German "Gemutlichkeit". His devotion to his children was very deep. The days of my childhood that have left their deepest impression en my mind and character, that today remain the fondest of memories, were those spent in the company of my father. It was his guiding hand although untutored, that first pointed out the beauties of nature to me. It was he who aided me in the problems of gathering and preserving my natural history history specimens, who helped me in my work and play." I would like to say here that many of the endearing qualities which Dr. Meiners attributed to his father were also manifested in large measure by him. In addition there was a deep scholarliness and absolute integrity which caused me to recommend his services whenever a friend asked me for the name of an honest physician.
Dr. Meiners received his medical training in St. Louis and interned at St. Luke's Hospital. While still an intern he was the first to develop a method of injection of intravenous glucose to combat post-operative shock. Thereafter it became a regular procedure in the treatment of shock. In World War I he served in Nashville, Tennessee, with the United States Public Health Service. While at St. Luke's Hospital he met and married Lillian Mae McGimsey, who survives him. Children of this marriage are Dr. Edwin Paul Meiners, Jr., Dr. Theodore M. Meiners, and Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Boughnou. There are twelve grandchildren living.
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
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Edwin Meiners always felt keenly that St. Louis, whose metropolitan area has a population well over one million, could and should support a genuine natural history museum comparable to those in other large cities of the country, where the student could go to consult study collections and carry on biological research. It was his great ambition to see this established, but he died without seeing his dream realized. This was his great disappointment. In his efforts to arouse support for a museum he was a member of several embryo scientific clubs and of societies in St. Louis, some of which had brief histories: the Heink Entomological Club, the St. Louis Entomological Club, the Webster Groves Nature Study Society, the Greater St. Louis Museum of Natural History, the St. Louis Naturalists' Club, and the Academy of Science of St. Louis. He was one of the organizers in 1934 of the Entomology Section of the Academy, which flourished for about ten years. Members of this section, many of whom have since published significent contributions on entomology were: O. Zielinski, Richard Froeschner, L. Pinkus, E. D. Bueker, Wendell Shay, Hugo Press, Martin Gordon, Harold O'Byrne, Phil Rau, P. S. and C. L. Remington. Writing of these meetings Meiners says: "One night Shay electrified us by appearing rather late loaded down with a two foot long setting board and two quart jars filled with the most wonderful moths. He not only took our breath, but he broke up our meeting by offering to take those of us with him who were willing to go at this hour of the night and to share his discovery with him." Dr. Meiners was chairman of this section at different times. He also served the Academy as Curator, Librarian, Second Vice-president, Editor of the Bulletin, member of the Board of Directors. At one time a gift to the Academy gave it a very large brick residence, in a fine area of the city, which was turned into a museum. Dr. Meiners organized and arranged the first insect exhibits, using much of his own collection. However, this effort eventually died out and the museum now maintained by the Academy is virtually a Childrens' Museum. Dr. Meiners felt that this was not the proper place for study collections and so he willed his fine collection of insects to the University of Missouri. It is now under the care of Dr. Wilbur Enns, who tells me that the collection consists of 330 boxes and drawers of Lepidoptera, 96 of Coleoptera, 13 of Hymenoptera, 15 of Orthoptera, and 38 of miscellaneous groups. A conservative estimate places the number of specimens at a total of 30,000 to 40,000. The collection is now in the Entomology Museum at the University of Missouri.
In recent years Dr. Meiners developed an interest in other branches of entomology besides Lepidoptera and made a good general collection
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of the insects of Missouri as shown by the above items. His favorite collecting haunts around St. Louis were Cliff Cave, Creve Coeur Lake, and especially Ranken, about which he wrote a fine article (Lepid. news 10: 163). He was greatly interested in the history of science and prepared excellent papers on outstanding Missouri entomologists. He collected all the published papers of Charles V. Riley, first State Entomologist of Missouri, and of Mary V. Murtfeldt, an early lepidopterist of Kirk-wood. He owned a collection of letters and writings of early and contemporary entomologists and a notable collection of rare books on entomology. This was purchased by the General Library of the University of Missouri. Part of the purchase price was used by his widow to establish the Dr. E. P. Meiners Memorial Scholarship fund at the University. Mrs. Meiners tells me that the Doctor was working at the time of his death on a book to be entitled "The Effect of Insects on Civilization." An effort will be made to ascertain if some of the material in it can be published.
Dr. Meiners was regarded as an authority on medical entomology. He was certainly the dean of entomologists in St. Louis. His first love was always Lepidoptera. He was always willing to present interesting and scholarly papers on topics connected with butterflies and other insects. He wrote: "I spent about four hours one Sunday afternoon showing my collection and lecturing on entomology to a class of students from Harris Teachers College. I doubt whether any of the class had ever sat through a lecture that long!" He well recognized the importance of encouraging young people in the study of insects and several of the young men to whom he gave encouragement are now professional entomologists, including the Editor of this publication.
He was a member of the American and Missouri Medical Societies, the Entomological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Just before he died he was instrumental in the starting of a new entomological society in St. Louis. Plans for rliis were continued after his death and the society took in his honor the name of The E. P. Meiners Entomological Society. The society has held monthly meetings under the chairmanship of Mr. Pinkus and is thriving.
Dr. Meiners will be remembered by his many friends for his unfailing kind efforts to help even the layman gain some understanding of entomology and to show them his collection and encourage them to learn of the wonderful world of insects. He tried to give them an appreciation for the truly scientific viewpoint toward all matters biological. His name may be found in dos Passos' forthcoming Check List
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of the Nearctic Rhopalocera, for Gunder named an aberration of Strymon melinus and Field named the spring form of Everes cornyntas for him. Dr. Meiners was not particularly proud of this, for he held that aberrations and forms should not be named. Indeed, he long felt that there were too many species names and believed that when the biology of Lepidoptera is better understood, many names will disappear into the synonomy.
Many pleasant evenings were spent by this writer in Dr. Meiners' study or in mine as we chatted about insects. On one occasion I recall saying to him a little facetiously: "Doctor, you know the world thinks you and I are "nuts" to devote so much time and effort to collecting and studying bugs!" He replied, without the familiar twinkle in his eye: "Mr. Remington, what the world is more "nuts" like you and me! There would be a lot less tension and trouble in the world if this were so.'
Bibliography of Publications by E. P. Meiners
1936a. Notes on Papilio asterius Cram, and a record of var. americus Kollar.
Ent. news 47: 269. 1936b. The dimorphic blue female of Everes corny ntas Godt. Annals ent. soc.
Amer. 29: 620-621. 1939. The life history of Euchloe olympia Edwards with some notes on its habits.
Proc. Missouri acad. sci. 4: 154-156. 1941. Obituaries of Hermann Schwarz, George W. Bock, August Knetzger, Charles
L. Heink, and Vitae Kite. Ent. news 52: 118-120. 1948a. Brief biographies. 12. George Hazen French (1841-1935). Lepid. news
2: 40. 1948b. Brief biographies. 14. George Duryea Hulst (1846-1900). Lepid. news
2: 66. 1948c. Brief biographies. 15. Mary Esther Murtfeldt (1839-1913. Lepid. news
2: 83. 1948d. Book reviews and obituary note [Phil Rau]. Lepid. news 2: 43, 55, 62. 1949. A brief history of lepidopterology in Missouri. Lepid. news 3: 51-52. 1951. Harold I. O'Byrne (1898-1951) [Obituary]. Lepid. news 5: 11-12. 1953. The Languriidas and Erotylidae (Coleoptera) of Missouri with notes and
keys. Journ. Kansas ent. soc. 26: 18-25. [With R. C. Froeschner.] 1956. Lepidoptera collecting at Ranken, Missouri. Lepid. news 10: 163-168.
P. Sheldon Remington 12 Country Meadow Lane, Box 612, R.R.I, St. Louis 41, Mo., U. S. A.