120 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



so to speak, with which we have to live." It was on this basis 

 that he carried out his great work on insects, and it is a fact, 

 which we are beginning to appreciate more in recent years than 

 formerly, that we often know very little about common insects 

 or those, as Reaumur says, with which we have to live, and 

 that in the species which we meet every day is a field for study 

 and investigation that is often almost unworked. Of the mil 

 lions of species which exist in the world a vast percentage of 

 them have little importance other than that of filling the gaps in 

 some system of classification, and it seems reasonable, therefore, 

 to urge the importance of working on common insects, especially 

 in view of the fact that it will be hundreds of years before any 

 complete knowledge of the whole field can be gained. The 

 classifications and descriptions of to-day, on which have been 

 expended vast time and energy, will be antiquated in a few 

 years with the advance of science and discovery of new forms, 

 and their places will be taken by new systems of classification 

 and new descriptions. That an at least equal permanency and a 

 greater practical value attaches to work in the lines of investi 

 gation of life histories and habits of common species and studies 

 of anatomy and the more general problems of biology, is the 

 opinion of the writer. These questions, however, are perhaps 

 controversial and it is probably unwise to introduce them. 



The address was discussed by Messrs. Gill, Ashmead, How 

 ard, Kenyon, and Schwarz. All of the speakers congratulated 

 the President upon his address and thanked him for the pleasure 

 he had given the Society. 



Dr. Gill combated the idea that Aristotle derived any great 

 benefit from his association with Alexander the Great. A close 

 study of Aristotle's works shows no basis for the statement, 

 which was derived from the writings of later authors. All of 

 the forms described by Aristotle from specimens are familiar 

 Grecian forms. Everything which was not Grecian was de 

 scribed from hearsay. That Alexander gave Aristotle 8 talents 

 in gold (amounting to about one million of dollars) is manifestly 



