264 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Oct., '05 



Entomological Literature- -The Bete Noire of the 



Entomologist. 



BY C. F. BAKER, Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba. 



It was with great interest and pleasure that I read the criti- 

 cisms of the Editor of ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS on my humble 

 efforts in the matter of entomological publication, not that they 

 show any knowledge of the facts in the case, or any particular 

 evidence of a desire to be just, but that they present to the 

 scientific world a text of such burning importance and imme- 

 diate interest to every working student, that he cannot now, 

 in justice to us all, fail to carry his aggressive discussion to 

 its logical conclusion a thorough and fair investigation. Cer- 

 tainly, at this juncture in the history of entomological work 

 in America, the pages of any journal devoted to the subject 

 could not be filled with more important matter, and I am in 

 great hopes that the initiative taken by Dr. Skinner may call 

 forth the frankest possible discussions from all sides. 



My individual interest in the case criticized by Dr. Skinner 

 can be disposed of in a few words to make way for the only 

 discussion of general interest one covering the whole subject 

 fairly and squarely. Before undertaking the publication of 

 the series of reports entitled " Invertebrata Pacifica," I issued 

 a prospectus explaining its methods and objects and sent this 

 out broadcast so that all the world might know a copy was 

 addressed to Dr. Skinner. The collections I had brought 

 together on the Pacific Slope of North and Central America 

 were in certain groups as important and extensive as any 

 collections ever made in those regions in some more so and 

 material in almost all groups represented there was carefully 

 gathered. There was the promise of a great amount of valuable 

 matter forthcoming in the way of faunal and monographic 

 studies by various well known students, all based on this 

 material. I desired very much to have all this published 

 together. Even separately I know of no place where one 

 small part of it could be published. So I published it pri- 

 vately. My right in this matter was exactly that of many 

 other individuals the world over, through whose private enter- 



