ZOOLOGY AND HUMAN WELFARE 



if they gave more generous support to the government 

 scientists and less superficial attention to administrative 

 job-holders. It v^^ill astonish any able and successful 

 business man to learn of the miserable salaries and appro- 

 priations under which many scientific departments must 

 labor. Unless some popular branch of science is concerned, 

 such as radio, legislative neglect and parsimony seem to 

 be the rule. This situation could be changed, if sufficient 

 pressure were brought to bear by interested and informed 

 citizens. If such pressure should bring about increased 

 appropriations for scientific work, we could be sure, at 

 least, that the money would not be w^asted in graft and 

 display. For scientists are interested in science, and they 

 are always seeking to improve their equipment and extend 

 their researches. 



One of the most important of the scientific departments 

 of the United States Government is the Bureau of Ento- 

 mology, which is devoted to the study of beneficial and 

 injurious insects. Its practical work was begun by C. V. 

 Riley, who in 1870 evolved the idea of using paris green 

 to poison the potato beetle. This was a great success and 

 rescued a valuable crop which w^as threatened with perma- 

 nent destruction, as the insect spread over the country 

 from its original home in the Southwest. Since that time 

 the insect work has grown until about a thousand ento- 

 mologists are employed, and a very extensive field of 

 knowledge and technique has developed. Here it is espe- 

 cially evident that purely scientific investigation affords 

 the foundation for practical results, and so the Bureau of 

 Entomology includes men who devote their time to classify- 

 ing and naming mosquitoes, flies, beetles, and other insects, 

 to working out details of behavior and anatomy, and to 

 studying breeding habits and immature stages, as well as 

 those who are actively concerned in observing and checking 

 serious infestations, wherever such may occur. 



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