OF WASHINGTON. 57 



centage of these old names will be restored to their rightful places. 

 In strong contrast to this makeshift and unsatisfactory method is 

 the result obtained by Doctor Williston, as indicated in his " Syn 

 opsis of the North American Syrphidse;" of the 223 descriptions 

 of species from the United States, to the type specimens of which 

 he did not have access, he succeeded in identifying 170, or more 

 than three-fourths of the whole number, as compared to less 

 than one-seventh, in the case of Dr. Loew. After due allow 

 ances are made, the result is very much in favor of the man upon 

 the ground. 



There is an unfortunate tendency, particularly among new re 

 cruits, to describe at once as new all forms that do not agree in 

 all respects with existing descriptions as they interpret them. 

 The identifying of species from published descriptions is always 

 attended with a certain degree of uncertainty, and unless one has 

 access to representatives of all the species described in a given 

 group it is advisable to label the specimen with the name of the 

 species with the description of which it most nearly agrees, 

 placing a question mark before the specific name. It is only 

 when one has access to practically all the forms occurring in a 

 given region that he is in a position to correctly interpret the 

 published descriptions of species from that region. In several 

 cases the descriptions contain actual misstatements a fact that 

 should not be overlooked when identifying species from descrip 

 tions onlv. 



The present epoch has also witnessed a notable advance in our 

 knowledge of the early stages of at least a portion of our Diptera ; 

 this was inaugurated by Dr. L. O. Howard in his studies of 

 our mosquitoes, a work in which he has been ably seconded by 

 the patient labors of Dr. H. G. Dyar, Dr. J. B. Smith, Prof. 

 O. A. Johannsen, and a few others. Dr. Dyar has described 

 and figured the early stages of nearly every kind of mosquito 

 that has come within his reach, while Dr. Smith informs me that 

 during the last two seasons he has obtained the early stages of 31 

 of the 33 species known to inhabit New Jersey a remarkable 

 achievement, indicative of what may be accomplished in other 

 groups by continuous, well-directed efforts. In the list of the 

 insects of New Jersey, published only three years ago, only ten 



