OF WASHINGTON. 25 
vision decided to join in the organization of this Society. It was 
still more to get better acquainted with those of kindred tastes 
outside the Department, in Baltimore and elsewhere, as well as 
in Washington, and to cultivate social intercourse and interchange 
of views and experience. 
From this standpoint it was, perhaps, unfortunate that you 
chose me as your presiding officer ; for I feel deeply that we 
should avoid everything that may create the impression that the 
Society is but an echo of the official organization. 
Our efforts to enlist the sympathy and co-operation of all the 
entomologists have been measurably successful, if not as fully so 
as we have wished ; but by perseverance and creditable work, we 
may hope to enlist the co-operation of all, and in time add them 
all to our roll of members. 
The field is wide and there is an abundance of work to do, 
and more particularly serious work. It is more creditable to any 
author to publish some full and complete account of any one in- 
sect, whose characters and habits have hitherto been unknown, 
or a synopsis or monograph of some genus or family, than to 
cast to the world a w r hole number of hasty descriptions of spe- 
cies ; for while descriptive work thoroughly and faithfully done 
is of the highest order and most creditable, it is a fact that many 
entomological writers have busied themselves with descriptive 
work which has had little other result than to confuse and per- 
plex all subsequent honest and serious workers in the same field. 
Certain recent descriptive Coleopterological workers might be 
cited, by way of illustration ; but it is chiefly among Lepidopter- 
ists that the unsatisfactory and careless descriptions prevail. I 
would earnestly urge upon all the members of our Society the 
great value and significance of anatomical, embryological and 
histological work, and such monographic work as I have already 
indicated. 
We are fortunate, not only in our surroundings here in Wash- 
ington, but and we may say it without vanity also in the di- 
versity of the interests which our membership represents. 
Messrs. Schwarz and Hubbard are already known for their 
work in Coleoptera. Mr. Howard is devoting himself to the 
study of the smaller Hymenoptera, and will easily be led to 
interest himself more and more in the whole Order. Our 
