OF WASHINGTON. 19 



ical societies were rapidly formed in almost every country in 

 Kurope, and there are now no less than seventeen societies, 

 distributed as follows : Germany, six ; England, four ; Switzer 

 land, two ; Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Russia and Italy, one 

 each. I count only those which have published anything, 

 but there are no doubt many more in existence. One of the 

 German societies represents the very rare phenomenon of a 

 bifurcation, having split in two different societies. In 1856 an 

 Entomological Society was founded in Australia, and is pub 

 lishing the Transactions of the Entomological Society of New 

 South Wales. 



In North America entomological society life did not begin 

 to develop until 1842, when the Entomological Society of 

 Pennsylvania was founded. It never published anything ; it 

 never had any regular meetings nor a constitution : neverthe 

 less it accomplished a great deal of good by planning the prep 

 aration of several papers by its members, and more especially 

 by attracting the attention of European entomologists. We 

 owe to this society thq first and still the only reference Cata 

 logue of North American Coleoptera, which was published by 

 the Smithsonian after many years of delay. Society life in 

 earnest began in 1860, when the Entomological Society of 

 Philadelphia was founded, which, in 1861, began to publish its 

 Proceedings (six volumes), and since 1868, having changed its 

 name to the American Entomological Society, its Transactions. 

 It has also published the Practical Entomologist (two volumes), 

 the Synopsis of North American Hymenoptera, and a Check List 

 of North American Coleoptera. Other societies were rapidly 

 organized afterwards : the Entomological Society of Ontario, . 

 which has published, since 1868, an Annual Report and the 

 Canadian Entomologist ; the Cambridge Entomological Club, 

 founded in 1874, which is publishing Psyche, and has also 

 issued bibliographies of some of our prominent entomologists ; 

 the Brooklyn Entomological Society, organized in 1872, pub 

 lished, between 1878 and 1884, seven volumes of its Bulletin, 

 and, since 1885, after its union with the New York Entomo 

 logical Society, the Entomologica Americana ; it also pub 

 lished two Check Lists of North American Insects (one of the 



