INSECTS. 215 



formation would doubtless be brought out in that way, and 

 especially if the insects themselves' were brouglit forward for 

 examination. There is quite as much necessity for the dis- 

 semination of the knowledge which we already have, as for 

 tlie acquisition of that wliicli is new — however important 

 that may be. The want of good works on our common inju- 

 rious and beneficial insects is one of the principal difficulties 

 in our way. In Europe, where the country is densely popu- 

 lated and all the products of the soil higher priced than here, 

 the ravages of insects are more severely felt, and yet, from 

 the greater care taken to protect crops, they are not so de- 

 structive as in this country. But in Europe the application 

 of entomological knowledge has received far more attention 

 than here, and many large works, prepared with great labor 

 and fully illustrated, have been published at government ex- 

 pense. And in Germany the subject is taught in the schools 

 and colleges. 



In our our own country the best works are Dr. Harris's 

 " Treatise on some of the Insects Injurious to Vegetation," 

 of which three editions have been published by the State of 

 Massachusetts, the last edition of which is well illustrated ; 

 and Dr. Packard's "Guide to tlie Study of Insects," the only 

 general work on insects published in this country, and one 

 which should be in the hands of every one interested in any 

 way in the study. Other treatises are scattered through gov- 

 ernment reports, the publications of agricultural societies, ag- 

 ricultural journals, etc. The Practical Entomologist, two 

 volumes published at Philadelphia, 1865 to 1867, and the 

 American Entomologist, also two volumes, published at St. 

 Louis, are two small monthly journals, now suspended, which 

 were devoted exclusively to practical entomology, as it is 

 called, and which are still valuable, as they contain many 

 good figures and much information in regard to noxious in- 

 sects. Dr. Fitch's Reports on the Noxious and Beneficial In- 

 sects of New York, Mr. Riley's Reports on the Noxious, Ben- 

 eficial and other Insects of Missouri, and Prof. Glover's papers 

 in the national agricultural reports, are other works which 



