1893-] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 257 



ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



It may interest some of the readers of the NEWS to know what 

 has been done to represent Economic Entomology at Chicago, 

 and to this end a brief statement of the character of the insect 

 collections may not be uninteresting. By all odds the largest, 

 and infinitely the best-arranged and considered, is that in the 

 U. S. Government building under the charge of Dr. Riley. In 

 the first place a great deal of money has been spent upon the 

 collection ; the arrangement has been in the hands of trained men, 

 with a definite purpose in view, and the economic exhibit as a 

 whole is extremely good. There is nothing that is not open to 

 criticism, and it would be easy* to find fault with some phases of 

 the collection. It is questionable, perhaps, whether there is any 

 necessity for figures when the insects are large enough to repre- 

 sent themselves ; as for instance, a Cecropia and its cocoon are 

 quite visible enough to the naked eye without figures to assist in 

 recognizing them. It might have been better, or at least looked 

 better in some cases, if the species were represented by a greater 

 number of specimens than is sometimes the case, and there are 

 other little matters of detail with which fault could be found. 

 But the collection is so good as a whole, that criticisms of this 

 character seem mere earnings. In addition to the strictly eco- 

 nomic series, there are also a number of boxes containing merely 

 show specimens : that is, attractive specimens, principally from 

 South and Central America, illustrating nothing except them- 

 selves, and furnishing what may be termed an " Oh, my ! " col- 

 lection. These are not named and have no scientific interest 

 whatever. Another lot of boxes illustrates the National Museum 

 collection by means of sample drawers from a majority of the 

 orders. It is perhaps a question whether it is good policy to ex- 

 pose any part of a regular museum series, in any order, to the 

 action of light, dust and the risk of accidents necessitated in a 

 case like the present, and it is gratifying to note that types, at 

 least, have been removed from the collection and retained in the 

 Museum. The entomologist will find one of the most interesting 

 parts of this exhibit in the exhibit of apparatus for raising, mount- 

 ing, studying and capturing insects ; a great variety of nets, 

 bottles, forceps, pins, and other paraphernalia being shown. 



