ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



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PHILADELPHIA, PA., DECEMBER, 1904. 



There is one thing appertaining to entomology that has not 

 developed in proportion to the growth and demand of the 

 study. We refer to the entomological supply business. The 

 commercial people have not seen the enormous increase of 

 interest in our study and there is almost no competition among 

 dealers in this country. In Europe the journals contain many 

 advertisements of dealers offering all kinds of supplies and 

 doubtless one can obtain almost anything promptly, while in 

 this country there are only a very few dealers and they appear 

 incompetent to properly handle the business. In Philadelphia 

 with over a million people and many persons interested in 

 entomology, there is not a single place where one can get 

 satisfactory entomological supplies. If a museum or individual 

 wishes insect boxes, from six months to a year will elapse- 

 before they are supplied, and one must suffer from stagnation 

 and paralysis in caring for additional specimens or rearranging 

 old. If a few thousand specimens are received they crowd up 

 the temporary receptacles and must wait two or three months 

 for printed pin labels before they can be incorporated in the 

 collections, as it is impossible to get labels promptly. We 

 have heard all the explanations and excuses for this condition 

 of affairs and believe none of them valid. Is there not a man 

 who will go into the business who is not suffering from the 

 sleeping sickness? We believe a live, wide-awake firm or 

 individual could build up a fine business in entomological 

 supplies and appliances, but the business must be thoroughly 

 understood. 



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