ROSS: SYSTEMATIC ENTOMOLOGY 



489 



cover what their fellow worker had tried to describe. Nevertheless, nomencla- 

 tural dilemmas set up by these pioneers remain to tliis day the most difficult 

 problems with which we have to contend. 



Another advantage, closely linked with the proceding, was peculiar to Eu- 

 rope. Each worker belonged to a relatively settled, culturally distinct popula- 

 tion, occupying a limited geographic area. Each country was like a snug island; 

 Great Britain, from which perhaps the greatest per capita number of syste- 

 matic studies have appeared, was literally so. As a result, each country began 

 to develop its own group of enthusiastic amateur entomologists. There was a 

 real stimulus for these beginners in the fact that their collecting was confined 

 within definite geographic bounds. There was an excellent chance to secure in 

 one's lifetime a nearly complete collection of at least the larger insects; the nearer 

 to completion the collection, the more exciting the hobby. 



Many regional treatments appeared, which attracted and aided new workers, 

 and each manual or catalogue played an important part in refining and perfect- 

 ing the knowledge of the local fauna. Some workers were collectors only, but 

 their special enthusiasm increased the number of specimens available to more 

 advanced workers. By 1853 many of the more popular insect groups in Europe 

 — especially the larger Lepidoptera and the Coleoptera — were almost completely 

 sampled and named. Hatch (p. 556) illustrates this point by showing that 3,650 

 species of beetles occurring in Britain had been named by 1832. By 1945 this 

 number had increased by only 61 names ! Of course there were actually more 

 novelties than this in the 121 years, because of synonyms in the 1843 list, but 

 these figures testify to the thoroughness and enthusiasm of a group of natural- 

 ists working within definite geographic bounds. Fortunately there was pretty 

 good coordination of nomenclature from country to country, and excellent Pan- 

 European treatments developed from the national studies. The most important 

 result of this regional activity was that the local manuals provided a fertile field 

 for the development of beginners. At any time the size of the mature crop of 

 advanced scientists is proportional to tlie number of seeds that are sown and 

 sprout. Popular regional works nourish the growth of "seedling" scientists, some 

 of whom contribute only collections and their support to science, while others 

 progress to broader scientific horizons. 



Some of the early European amateurs, having seen the supply of local novel- 

 ties reduced, turned their attention more and more to the foreign field. Much 

 of their work appeared as special reports of expeditions or in regional mono- 

 graphs like the Biologia Centrali-Americana. 



Many specialists in taxonomic rather than geographic units soon appeared 

 on the European scene and began the type of comprehensive research in special 

 groups that is so vitally needed today. But, as is the rule among entomologists, 

 they still persisted, even at the superficial taxonomic level, in attempting more 

 than they could properly accomplish. 



Because of all this amateur activity several entomological societies and peri- 

 odicals were founded in Europe well before 1853, and the number has steadily 

 increased. At first there was objection to specialization and even today there 

 remain important vestiges of the old general philosophical organizations and 

 periodicals. (The Proceedings of tliis Academy is an example.) Although such 

 periodicals tend to scatter the literature of a subject, they do provide outlets 



