THE CANADIAN ENtOMOLOGIST. 81 



DR. DYAR'S CRITICISM OF "MOSQUITO LIFE." 



BV D. W. COQUILLETT, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



Dr. Dyar's criticism of " Mosquito Life " in the February number of 

 the Canadian Entomologist (it cannot possibly be called a review — the 

 author informs me that no copy of the book was sent to Dr. Dyar) calls 

 for a reply, that the many false statements may be corrected. To define 

 my own position in the case, it may be stated that when Miss E. G. 

 Mitchell, the author, began work on the drawings for the Carnegie Mono- 

 graph, she was assigned a desk in Dr. Dyar's office at the National 

 Museum, and he was given general supervision of her work. Instead of 

 giving her a specimen to draw, he handed her two trays containing about 

 35 slides of larval skins, bidding her compare them critically and ascertain 

 if more than one species was in the lot. How well she did her work may 

 be gleaned from the first paragraph of an article in the Journal of the N. 

 Y. Ent. Soc, Vol. XIII., p. 107, under the title " Brief Notes on Mos- 

 quitoes," by Harrison G. Dyar, A. M., Ph. D., and which runs as fol- 

 lows : 



" Distribution of Theobaldia absobrimis^ Felt. — In re-examining my 

 series of Theobaldia ijicidens from British Columbia (Proc. Ent. Soc, 

 Wash., VI., 38, 1904), I find it to contain a mixture of a second species 

 which I am able to identify with T. absobritius, Felt." 



Not one word in the entire article to indicate that the work had been 

 done by any other person than himself! The lady continued her work for 

 several weeks, then informed me that she would prefer to resign rather 

 than continue working under the unpleasant existing conditions. She was 

 therefore given desk-room in my office in the National Museum, where she 

 continued her work on the drawings under my general supervision, and so 

 matters stood until the cessation of her work about a year later. 



I will now take up the more flagrant of Dr. Dyar's false satements in 

 the order in which he gives them : 



1. "In the title the species of the United States are said to be treated 

 of, but in reality, only those of the Atlantic coast region are dealt with." 

 Only a casual glance through the book is necessary to reveal the fact that 

 Fraficiscafius, incide7is, varipalpus^ Cu?'riei, puilatiis, F/etcheri, Spenceri, 

 etc., all western or Pacific Coast forms, are dealt with. 



2. " The illustrations show the effects of Mr. F. Knab's expert artistic 

 criticism." Without wishing in the least to detract from Mr. Knab's ability 

 as a critic or artist, I am in a position to know that he never saw any 

 of the drawings of the adults, and an incident which he himself related to 



Mari"h, 1908 



