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Vol. XXXVIII. LONDON, JANUARY, 1906. 



No. 



A NORTH AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGISTS' UNION.- 



BV HENRY H. l.VMAN, M. A., MONTREAL. 



When seven years ago 1 had the honour of occupying the Presiden- 

 tial chair of this Society, I ventured in my annual address, as some of you 

 will doubtless remember, to suggest the formation of a North American 

 Entomologists' Union on similar lines to those on which the American 

 Ornithologists' Union has been so successfully carried on ; and in my 

 second address the following year I again returned to the subject. I 

 hoped that the idea would be taken up by some of the leading entomolo. 

 gists of the continent, but though tlie matter has been, I believe, the 

 subject of correspondence among a number of entomologists, nothing of a 

 tangible nature has, api)arently, resulted. 



Last vear when in New York I was told that a move had been made, 

 and that I would soon receive a circular about it, but on a subsequent visit 

 this year I was told that owing to certain local jealousies the matter had 

 been, at least temporarily, abandoned. 



It therefore appears to me opportune, as the original proposer of the 

 scheme, to again bring it before our Society, and through it before the 

 entomologists of the continent. 



One thing which caused my thoughts to be again turned to this 

 subject was the reading of the very admirable article on Entomological 

 Literature by Mr. C. F. Baker, in the October number of 

 " Entomological News." If all our writers would use the same restrained 

 and courteous manner there would be no excuse for bickering and ill 

 feeling among entomologists. I entirely agree with Mr. Baker that 

 having so many publications devoted to general entomology, so that' any 

 student in any branch has to refer to all of them, is a great evil and a 

 hindrance to the progress of original research in special lines ; but while 

 it is easy to see the evil, I fail to see how it can be remedied except by 

 the co-operation of entomologists in a Union such as I have suggested. 



*Read at the Annual Meeting- of the ?2ntomologrit.-al Society of Ontario, 

 Guelph, Oct. 19, 1905. 



