258 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [October, 



in Albany." He has discovered them during the present year in very 

 great numbers in the center of the city, and has ascertained that they have 

 been in the more southern parts for at least three years. Dr. Lintner 

 very strongly urges the destruction of the pupae at and near the base of 

 the tree, and claims that in Albany it is the second brood that does the 

 greatest injury. A very interesting discussion on this subject followed, in 

 which Messrs. Riley, Fernald, Southwick, Smith and others took part. 

 The general conclusion was, that it was simply a matter of mechanical 

 work, and that there was no other difficulty in the way of successfully 

 dealing with these insects. Mr. Smith confimed Mr. Marlatt's suggestions 

 that the early sprayings were the most important, and that if the leaves 

 could be protected from injury to such an extent that they would not be 

 shed and that the tree would not be induced to throw out a second foliage, 

 they would become so hard and so little to the taste of the insects, that 

 the beetles would go into hibernation rather than lay eggs for a second 

 brood; and if they did oviposit and larvae hatched, a large proportion of 

 them would die, or would grow so slowly, that the injury would be im- 

 perceptible. 



A great deal of public interest was manifested in this meeting, and the 

 attendance outside of regular members was large. Prof. Fernald pre- 

 sented a statement concerning "The Gypsy Moth," which included a 

 brief history of the introduction of the insect, its spread, the organization 

 for its proposed destruction, and an account of the work accomplished. 

 A very remarkable fact which developed in the course of the experiments 

 was that the caterpillars of this insect were able to devour an enormous 

 quantity of arsenic without apparent injury, so that spraying, except for 

 the destruction of the very young larvae, was practically out of the ques- 

 tion. The result was that more attention had been paid to the mechanical 

 destruction of the insects, and very largely to their destruction in the egg 

 stage. The future of the way was discussed and the propriety of con- 

 gressional aid was referred to. Messrs. Forbush and Kirkland, in charge 

 of the practical work of the Committee, followed, with some statements 

 as to the character of the work that had been done, and as to experiments 

 made in the direction of securing insecticides which would act upon these 

 caterpillars without injuring the foliage; thus far nothing that could be 

 satisfactorily recommended had been found. The arsenate of lead, useful 

 though it is against other insects, is practically useless against the Gypsy 

 Moth caterpillar, except in excessively large quantities. Dr. Riley made 

 a brief statement concerning the part taken by him in the early history of 

 the work, the recommendations made when he was first consulted, and 

 the criticisms which he found it desirable to make upon the way the work 

 was carried on at times. He very strongly commended, however, the 

 character of the work that was now being done, and suggested that it was 

 in line, to a large degree, with the recommendations originally made by him. 



Mr. E. B. Southwick read a paper upon "Economic Entomological 

 work in the Parks of New York City," in which he described the appa- 

 ratus of his department and the manner in which the work was done, and 



