REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 33 



to the Institution was the same. Indeed it is a gratifying evidence 

 of the public estimation in which the Institution is held, that Con- 

 gress has been so favorably disposed, even during the depressed con- 

 dition of the treasury, towards the distribution of this document. 



It was mentioned in the last Report that the Institution had made 

 arrangements for the preparation of elementary treatises on the dif- 

 ferent orders of insects found in North America, with a view to 

 identify the species and facilitate the study of their relation and 

 habits. Considerable progress has been made in this work, and sev- 

 eral parts are either in the press or ready to be given to the printer. 

 These treatises will afford the means of instructing the farmer in 

 regard to the character of the insect enemies with which he has to 

 contend, and will enable him by watching their habits, time of ap- 

 pearance, and mode of propagation, to add much valuable informa- 

 tion to what is already known relative to the method of guarding 

 against their ravages. 



But before anything of this kind can be done systematically, we 

 must be able to recognize the insects, since the same animais are 

 known in different countries by different names. If, therefore, we 

 would avail ourselves of the facts which have already been gathered 

 by patient study in this branch of natural history, we must be assured 

 of the identity of the species; and if we would make the knowledge 

 which already exists in this country generally available, the insects 

 must be described Avith that scientific precision which will enable 

 them to be immediately recognized with certainty in every part of 

 the world. 



These treatises or catalogues will be illustrated by wood-cuts, and 

 published as a part of the Miscellaneous Collections of the Institu- 

 tion. 



The last Report contains a series of instructions for collecting and 

 preserving specimens of insects, prepared by the following gentle- 

 men, viz: Dr. John L. Le Conte, of Philadelphia; Dr. B. Clemens, 

 of Easton, Pa.; Dr. P. Uhler, of Baltimore; and Baron R. Osten 

 Sacken, of the Russian Legation. These instructions have not only 

 directed attention to the subject, but furnished the means by which 

 a large number of specimens have been obtained for scientific inves- 

 tigation. 



It will be recollected that it is one of the objects of the Institution 



