OF WASHINGTON. 95 
SEPTEMBER i, 1887. 
Seven persons present. President Howard in the chair. 
Mr. Smith reported on the entomological papers read before the 
American Association for the Advancement of Science during the 
recent meeting in New York.* 
Mr. Howard, as an instance of true, although somewhat misdi- 
rected, entomological enthusiasm, told the adventures of J. K , 
a member of a New Jersey scientific society, as recently related to 
him by a member of the same society. 
It seems that K , a young man, uneducated and poor, a collector of 
macrolepidoptera, had obtained possession of some work descriptive of 
some of the British Museum collections. He thought of those entomo- 
logical treasures all day; he dreamed of them by night until he was fairly 
daft for a sight of them. He gave up his job (he was a day laborer) and 
went, almost penniless, to New York, where, after long striving, he se- 
cured a chance to work his passage to Liverpool as cook's assistant on a 
sailing vessel. He arrived at Liverpool without a cent, tramped across to 
London, subsisting almost entirely on charity, and at last arrived before 
the Museum, only to find that the insect collections were closed up for 
some months during repairs or transfers. Completely disheartened, he 
sat down on the curb and cried. Policeman investigates cause of tears, 
crowd gathers, and, among others, fortunately, one of the assistant cura- 
tors hears the doleful story, takes pity on the poor man, and enables him 
to get a sight at the collections. This was all he wanted. After feasting 
his eyes he sought work, and finally found his way back to New Jersey, a 
happy and contented man. 
Mr. Howard mentioned the recent rearing by Mr. Scudder of 
an Ichneumonid parasite {Ichneumon instabilis) from an adult 
of the White Mountain Butterfly ( Chionobas semidea), and stated 
that he knew of no recorded instance of the rearing of a Hymen- 
opterous parasite from an adult Lepidopteron. 
Mr. Schwarz exhibited specimens of both sexes of Dysmerus 
basalis from southern Florida. The female is in every respect a 
Lczmophlceus, and even in the male the antennal structure does 
not seem to warrant a generic separation of Lczmophlceus. 
Mr. Ulke exhibited an apparently undescribed Calandrid beetle, 
allied to Phlceophagus , which he had recently found in the District 
of Columbia. 
* This Report has been published in Entomol. Amer., iii, pp. 101-108 and 
pp. 121-123. 
