ENTOMOLOGY — HOWARD 365 



some man yet in his forties draw up a scheme in as much detail as 

 possible; let him consult with his wisest associates; let him look 

 over the field with a prophetic eye; and then push the plan with 

 an enthusiasm and energy which belongs rather to the fourtli de- 

 cade of life than to the sixth (now occupied by the writer). Of 

 course, it is quite possible that this idea may not be adopted, but 

 in the very outlining of the plan it will be necessary to bring to- 

 gether all the sidelights with the main idea, and out of it will come 

 unquestionably a stimulation to research of the broadest kind in this 

 vital direction. 



And now we come to ecology. Originating as a name not so long 

 ago among the botanists, this term has broadened in its significance 

 to include certain aspects of the whole biological field. 



In his masterly address delivered before this society in 1915 en- 

 titled, "The Ecological Foundation of Applied Entomology," that 

 deep and sound thinker, that broad naturalist, that man whom this 

 society and our sister societies have been proud to honor as the dean 

 of the economic entomologists of America, Dr. S. A. Forbes, pointed 

 out in his clear and forceful way that nowhere does the broadening 

 of biological studies into the field of what is now termed " ecology " 

 promise better results or greater opportunities than in applied ento- 

 mology. In fact, he says, " The economic entomologist is an ecolo- 

 gist pure and simple — whether he calls himself so or not * * *." 

 This wonderful address and the contemporaneous and subsequent 

 writings of Shelford and others have opened the eyes of many work- 

 ers — in fact, have made many productive workers — and all leaders 

 of main projects having insect control in mind are now looking upon 

 their problems with ecological eyes. 



The revolution which has come is well illustrated, for example, in 

 the October, last, number of the Canadian Entomologist, where the 

 leading article, by W. C. Cook, tells of a study of the noctuid moths 

 caught at light at Bozeman, Mont., in 1919 by K. M. King and in 

 1923 by himself. Even a dozen years ago the moths so caught, if 

 they were good specimens, would have been pinned, identified, and 

 put in the college collection or in a private collection, accurately 

 labeled, of course, with date and locality, and there the matter would 

 have rested. But with our present growing knowledge of the fac- 

 tors concerned in the ecology of insects and the importance to be 

 placed upon an accumulation of individual notes, Mr. Cook has gone 

 far : He has analyzed the results, taking into consideration the food 

 plants and habits of the species involved, the question of temperature 

 and rainfall and elevation and character of the country inhabited by 



