THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 211 



In the absence of the Secretary, the President called Mr. J. B. Smith 

 to act as such during the reading of the address, and Vice-President Miss 

 Mary Murtfeldt occupied the chair during the delivery of the 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 



BY HERBERT OSEORN, AMES, IOWA. 



The Entomological Club has reason to congratulate itself upon the 

 favourable conditions under which it meets. We are here in our national 

 capital, a city in which every American feels a pride, and the beauty of 

 which can but favour our enjoyment. We are in the centre of entomolo- 

 gical activity for the United States — and I am tempted to say for the 

 world, for I believe we should have to make diligent search to find any 

 community where so many skillful entomologists are devoting their entire 

 time to entomological problems. 



We have here one of the finest insect collections in the country, a col- 

 lection unique and invaluable in the richness of its biological material, 

 and one which has already become of great use and a Mecca to entomolo- 

 gists all over the country. With all these favouring circumstances we can 

 most certainly expect a profitable meeting, and I feel perfectly safe in 

 saying that every entomologist here will return to the regular duties of his 

 profession with renewed zeal, and with a better knowledge of the possi- 

 bilities of entomological work, and a feeling that he has been many times 

 repaid for the time and trouble he has expended in attending the meeting. 



But with the knowledge of these favouring conditions and the thought 

 of what should be expected in a presidential address on such an occasion, 

 I confess that it is with great trepidation that I undertake the discussion 

 of any of the many problems that are presented as living topics in the 

 entomological field. 



Our Club includes in its membership a majority of the working ento- 

 mologists of America, each one alive to the advancement of his favourite 

 science, eagerly watching for progress in every avenue of research and 

 keenly anxious to favour every means of promoting its interest. 



Each one then, we feel, has a special interest in the enlargement of 

 the entomological fraternity, and in the means and methods for the train- 

 ing of the coming generation of workers. 



