ZOOLOGY. 



THE STUDY OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



By J. ALLEN HARKER. 



QINCE the time when Kirby and Spence; in the hope of 

 *^ popularising the study of Entomology, presented it to the 

 public in its most attractive form, from being merely the hobby 

 or pastime of a few country clergymen and men of leisure, it 

 has become the ardent pursuit of thousands of enthusiasts of 

 every rank of life, and has attained no inconsiderable position 

 as a branch of learning. Within a much shorter period of time 

 the increase in the number of entomological students has been 

 still more marked. The country naturalist who, twenty or 

 thirty years ago, was obliged to plod on his uphill path alone 

 and without guidance in the shape of periodical or text-book, 

 is now overwhelmed by a superabundance of magazines, guides, 

 and manuals ; and the appearance of a butterfly-net in the 

 public streets or highways, which then excited almost as much 

 curiosity as did the first umbrella in the streets of Bath, is 

 now no longer an object of wonder. This is in every way 

 satisfactory, but when on the other hand we look for an amount 

 of progress in our knowledge of the Insect Fauna of the country 

 commensurate with this increase in the number of professed 

 investigators of the subject, the prospect is by no means so 

 gratifying, and the disagreeable truth is forced upon us, that the 

 work has not advanced in an equal ratio with the increase of 

 workers. A slight acquaintance with the entomological litera- 

 ture of other countries may further suggest to us that we are in 

 this respect perhaps a little behind the rest of the world. It 

 is true that much work of the very highest order has been 



