We have it on excellent authority that the very greatest pleasure of all her public recognitions was experienced on April 14, 1900, in the McEwan Hall, Edinburgh, when the LL.D. of the University was conferred upon her in company with a group of distinguished recipients of that honour[44] before an assemblage of about 3,000 people. The trials of the occasion, which are described in her letters, were greatly lessened by the courtesy and kindness and whispered words of encouragement of his Excellency, the American Ambassador, who was placed beside her during the ceremonial, and preceded her in undergoing the ordeal of capping. In presenting her to the Vice-Chancellor (Principal Sir Wm. Muir) the Dean of the Faculty of Law (Sir Ludovic Grant) said, with his usual eloquence:—
“A duty now devolves upon you, sir, which has devolved upon none of your predecessors, and of which the performance will render the present occasion memorable in the annals of the University. Our roll of Hon. Graduates in Law contains the names of many illustrious men, but you will search it in vain for the name of a woman. To-day, however, a new roll is to be opened—a roll of illustrious women; and it is matter for congratulation that this roll should begin with a name so honoured as that of Miss Ormerod.
“The pre-eminent position which Miss Ormerod holds in the world of science is the reward of patient study and unwearying observation. Her investigations have been chiefly directed towards the discovery of methods for the prevention of the ravages of those insects which are injurious to orchard, field, and forest. Her labours have been crowned with such success, that she is entitled to be hailed as the protectress of agriculture and the fruits of the earth—a beneficent Demeter of the nineteenth century. It would take long to enumerate her contributions to Entomological and Phenological literature, but I may select for mention the valuable series of reports extending over twenty years, the preparation of which involved correspondence with all parts of the world. Remarkable, too, is the list of the honours which she has received. She was the first lady to be admitted a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, and she has been awarded the Silver Medal of the ‘Société Nationale d’Acclimatation’ of France. To these distinctions the University of Edinburgh, sensible of her conspicuous services, and not unmindful of her generous benefactions, now adds its Doctorate in Laws.”