244 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [xxxil, '21 



the part of the present custodian. And that the types of such decidu- 

 ous-limbed creatures, as many of the Orthoptera, would be better pre- 

 served if placed in Riker mounts, or other protective devices, is obvious 

 when one notes the condition of most types of the older authors. For 

 every such type specimen, in even a tolerably fair state of preservation, 

 there are many so far gone to wreck and ruin as to be of little practical 

 value. Realization of such conditions influenced the writer to incase 

 certain material in Riker mounts, and the main reason for abandoning 

 this system, even in part, is that the claws and other armature of speci- 

 mens are prone to cling to the cotton when removed for examination, 

 thus often causing the breakage of legs, &c. .But even in such instances 

 the detached appendages are not lost, as they so often are if knocked 

 off in a pinned series, and it is thus seriously questionable if it is not 

 after all a mistake to discontinue this method of preserving the types 

 of fragile insects. However, this system has been for the most part 

 superseded in this collection by that of segregating types and represen- 

 tative sets in individual trays, a system now in general use in the Na- 

 tional Museum, except in the Macrolepidoptera. 



The matter of type deposition in privately endowed institutions as 

 compared with those publicly or nationally financed is one subject to 

 discussion, and mav be better left to others. A. N. CAUDELL. 



Honorary Decrees Conferred on Entomologists. 



The University of Indiana conferred the degree of LL.D. on W. S. 

 Blatchley on Wednesday, June 8, 1921. It is customary for the recipi- 

 ent of the degree to be introduced by a member of the faculty, with a 

 short statement, giving the reasons for conferring it. Dr. David Mot- 

 tier, of the department of botany, did this for Mr. Blatchley in the fol- 

 lowing complimentary terms : 



"Willis Stanley Blatchley Native of Connecticut; educated in the 

 schools of Indiana; successful teacher; leader in expeditions of scien- 

 tific exploration ; sixteen years an efficient officer of the State in the 

 capacity of State Geologist; a life-long student of natural history; 

 author of literary and scientific books; a nation-wide authority on 

 beetles, weevils and locusts; one of the foremost naturalists of America; 

 interpreter of nature's beauty in woodland and meadow, by wayside and 

 stream, in stones and in flowers. 



"Mr. President, this distinguished alumnus has been recommended by 

 the faculty for the degree of doctor of laws." Indianapolis Star, June 

 11, 1921. 



We have the- pleasure of congratulating also Mr. William Schaus, the 

 well-known Lepidopterist, of the Department of Insects, United States 

 National Museum, on the conferring of the degree of M.A. upon him by 

 the University of Wisconsin, last June. 



