16 PROCEEDINGS OJ THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



occurrence of insect pests and for this reason all exact records at the 

 present day are of importance. 



Entomology especially is such a vast science, with so many inter- 

 related and interdependent branches, that progress in any one branch 

 is necessarily dependent on progress in other branches as well. Economic 

 work depends on progress in systematics, in the natural history (in its 

 largest sense) of the insects concerned, and in control methods as applied 

 to insects generally, as well as on some knowledge of the particular 

 subject (agriculture, forestry, etc.) with which any particular insect is 

 concerned, and all of these branches must be taken together if the best 

 results are to be secured. The economic entomologist who thinks, 

 for example, that he can get on quite well without bothering about the 

 systematic side is on a par with the systematist who only pays attention 

 to adult characters of insects and despises all information regarding their 

 early stages and habits ; nor is the work of either likely to stand the test 

 of time. 



But, although we cannot afiord to neglect any aspect of Entomology 

 as a whole, it has become quite impossible for any one man to be j^rofi- 

 cient in, or even conversant wdth, the whole of such a vast subject as is 

 Entomology now-a-days. We have, each of us, to do what we can in 

 our little corner and to look to others for information on other subjects. 

 Entomological research has become extremely specialized and tends to 

 become more so in the future. There are no general entomologists 

 now-a-days. The man who really know^s his subject is a specialist in a 

 comparatively small group of insects or in some other branch of entomo- 

 logy. And so it is more and more coming to pass that we must rely on 

 other's work for our own information, and this means that progress is 

 only possible, in more than a very limited area at least, by mutual help. 

 The specialist in one subject must be ready to help others in his speciality 

 and must himself apply to others for help outside of his own special 

 group. As Laplace put it, " Nature is so varied in* her manifestations 

 and phenomena and the difficulty of elucidating their causes is so great, 

 that many must unite their knowledge and efforts in order to compre- 

 hend her and force her to reveal her laws." A Meeting of this sort 

 provides an excellent opportunity for the exercise of that mutual confi- 

 dence and mutual aid, of w4iich I spoke at our last Meeting, and I hope 

 that we shall all acquire at least a mutual knowledge of one another's 

 information on the various subjects for discussion at this Meeting. 



Turning to the programme before us, you will see that a very large 

 number of papers has been promised. The j^rogramme has been divided 

 into twelve sections, purely for convenience in arranging the papers on 

 various subjects. A paper may fall under more than one section. A 



