WHOLE VOL. APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY HOWARD 2I9 



The influence of this book on Walsh, Fitch, and Riley in this 

 country was very great. I believe that Riley got some of his earliest 

 and soundest ideas here. The combination of Curtis' book and his 

 own personal acquaintance with Walsh gave Riley a great start. 



Curtis' book was far ahead of any written up to that time in any 

 language. It went way beyond Harris' " Insects Injurious to Vege- 

 tation "in this country in its practical features. 



It is extremely interesting, after the lapse of more than 75 years, 

 and after the enormous growth in our knowledge of insects from a 

 practical point of view, and the tremendous advances in methods of 

 study and in the all-round scientific requirements of the modern 

 entomologist, to examine Curtis' book and see how unerringly he 

 pointed out a lot of basic things. 



For example, in his introduction (written in 1857) he points out 

 very plainly a fact which in later years I have had difficulty in pre- 

 senting in a perfectly clear way to administrative officers and legis- 

 lative committees, namely the importance to the practical man and to 

 the economic entomologist of the museum worker, the desk naturalist, 

 the taxonomist. Read the following: 



In perusing this volume, the reader who wishes to make himself acquainted 

 with the economy both of his insect friends and enemies, whose histories are 

 the subject of the following chapters, ought not to pass over as useless the 

 descriptions of the various species. It is a great mistake to suppose that scien- 

 tific descriptions and correct nomenclature ought to be employed for the use 

 of those only who are specially engaged in the study of natural history. If 

 insects be not thus accurately and scientifically described, and their names 

 carefully learned, the facts noticed by practical observers are generally worthless, 

 and may tend to mislead, by the confusion of one species with another, and the 

 consequent adoption of improper remedies. It is thus that I have found, in my 

 extensive reading on these subjects, that a very large amount of the information 

 given by practical agriculturists and gardeners, has proved valueless in cases 

 where, if the particular species alluded to could only have been identified, it 

 would have been of great value in furthering subsequent investigations. 



Writing from the modern standpoint, one is especially impressed 

 by the plan which Curtis adopted in his " Farm Insects," of introduc- 

 ing a summary at the end of each chapter, in which he displayed 

 in short, two-or-three-line paragraphs the facts brought out in the 

 chapter. This general plan was not adopted at all generally by sci- 

 entific writers until very many years later. It was unfortunate that 

 this general plan was not carried out systematically by Curtis through- 

 out the entire volume, but in the earlier chapters the plan plainly 

 proves its enormous advantages. 



Several points suggest themselves in going through these sum- 

 maries. The most important is that variations in agricultural prac- 



