192 PROCEEDINGS ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



NOTES ON A FLYING TRIP TO RUSSIA. 

 BY L. O. HOWARD. 



In the course of one of my European trips, taken for the 

 purpose of perfecting the organization for the introduction of 

 the European parasites of the gipsy and brown-tail moths, I 

 had occasion to visit St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Warsaw, 

 in the latter part of May last. Only four days were spent in 

 Russia, and most of the time was devoted to the purpose of the 

 visit, but some very brief notes were taken about Russian 

 entomologists and Russian collections, which may be of interest 

 to the Entomological Society of Washington. 



The meeting rooms of the Entomological Society of St. 

 Petersburg are in the building of the Ministry of Agriculture. 

 Formerly they were on the third floor, but have recently been 

 moved to the first floor. The society is now housed in one 

 large room. The furniture is fine and old, and there is a long 

 table about which the members sit at the meetings. There are 

 closed cabinets and books around the walls of the room. The 

 collections are not extensive, and do not seem to have been 

 well cared for. At the time of my visit things were very 

 much in confusion and certain cabinets had not been moved 

 down from the third floor. With the help of Mr. George 

 Jacobsen and an assistant I searched everywhere in the new 

 room and the old for the collection of insects made by Nietner 

 in Ceylon and sent to Motschulsky for determination, but 

 without success. Mr. Jacobsen assured me that he had seen 

 the collection in the cabinet of the society, and that when 

 matters were more settled he would find it and would loan me 

 any of the specimens I might desire to see. 



On the occasion of my first visit to the Ministry of Agri- 

 culture I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time Pr.ofes- 

 sorsor Porchinsky, a tall, fine looking gentleman with extremely 

 cordial manners. He was on the point of starting on an expe- 

 dition, and his rooms were in great confusion owing to his ex- 

 pected prolonged absecne. He is very familiar with the work 

 of the American entomologists, and especially of the economic 

 entomologists. 



The building of the St. Petersburg Academy of Science-- 

 is a very large but very plain stone building, yellow-washed. 

 The main exhibit collections are on the second and third floors 

 in one enormous gallery. The zoological collection^ arc very 

 fine many beautifully mounted groups illustrative of the life 

 history and habits of very many Russian-Siberian mammal- 



