198 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



which they preserve the eggs, larvae after each moult, pupa, cocoon, imago 

 of both sexes, and of various sizes and the several variations. Some of 

 our most enthusiastic students work out several such life histories, 

 describing not only the separate stages, but the several parasites that work 

 to destroy the insects. I regard this work as very valuable. It is 

 excellent discipline for the mind and observation, gives accurate informa- 

 tion of the most interesting kind, and arouses enthusiasm for the study as 

 nothing else can. It is such work as this that will tell for the future of 

 entomological research, that will make entomologists, who will honour 

 alike the fields of pure and applied entomology. But such study ought 

 not and will not stop here. Post-graduates will avail themselves of the 

 opportunities which such laboratories offer. Last winter during our long 

 vacation — ours is an agricultural college and our vacations must needs 

 occur in winter, when farm operations are largely at a standstill — I had 

 ten special students of entomology in my laboratory, one from South 

 Dakota, one from Indiana, one from Ohio, one from Japan, one from 

 Wisconsin, and the others from our own State. Nearly all were college 

 graduates. Six special students, all graduates from colleges, have spent 

 the year in my laboratory in special entomological study as post-graduate 

 students. It seems to me that such are the young men who are going to 

 develop the entomology of our country. They are the young men who 

 can and will do grand work in our colleges and experimental stations. 

 These young men each take up some special family or genus of insects, 

 to which they give the major part of their time and study. They collect 

 in all orders and give special attention to biological work, tracing the 

 life histories of insects, identifying as far as possible the insects they 

 capture and try to become familiar with entomological literature, so far as 

 they are able. The students are mutually helpful to each other. As the 

 laboratory may be said to be a sort of perpetual Natural History, or more 

 accurately Entomological Society, thus the students become familiar with 

 the general laboratory work, in fact, they each become a factor in some 

 degree of carrying the work forward. Here I will close by explaining 

 briefly the mode of our labaratory work, which differs in some degree 

 from the admirable plan which Prof. Forbes explained at the Washington 

 meeting of Economic Entomologists last November. Our labels give in 

 compact space locality, date, accession and species number. The 

 accession number agrees with a number — serial number — in our accession 

 catalogue for the special year. Thus, ac. 400 shows that the insect or 



