1913 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 41 



comes upon it, it extrudes a leg — if you choose to call it such — and then draws itself 

 into the leg; and so changes its place. "When it comes in contact with a particle 

 of food, it extemporizes a mouth and puts itself outside the substance. If this 

 proves suitable it assimilates it; if not, it ejects it at the nearest point. 



The lecturer described the creature, and told of its ways, and made a witty 

 and interesting address; and then the people were dismissed. On their way home, 

 the village blacksmith turned to one or two of his cronies, and said sarcastically, 

 "Was it worth that man's while to come out all this way, and try to stuS us 

 like that?" 



A perception of the importance of entomological pursuits was gradually brought 

 about in the public mind through the occurrence of a series of insect plagues — 

 the ravages of the Hessian Fly, of the Midge, the Locust, the Potato-beetle, the 

 Cabbage-worm, the Phylloxera, the Larch Sawfiy, etc. The trouble over these 

 induced men to read and spread the information published by Entomologists, as to 

 the nature of the pests, and the ways of combating them. And the impression was 

 made and deepened that an Entomologist was not one who merely engaged in the 

 childish sport of chasing butterflies, or indulged his miserly propensities by storing 

 away his captures. 



One of the first publications to help the Canadian farmers to a right apprecia- 

 tion of Entomological pursuits was Hind's "Essay on the Insects and Diseases 

 Injurious to the Wheat Crops." It was awarded a prize by the Bureau of Agri- 

 culture and Statistics, Toronto, in 1857, and was distributed amongst the farmers 

 of the country. The copy I have was sent to George Boright, of East Parnham, 

 by James Moir Ferris, M.P. for Brome. When Mr. Boright died, his widow 

 gave the book to me. 



The essay opens with — 



A Treatment and Classification of Insects. 



It treats of — 



The Hessian Fly. 



The Wheat Midge. 



The Wheat Stem-fly, and other Depredators. 



It describes — 



Eust — Smut — Pepper Bread — Ergot. And lastly it tells of Insect Enemies of 

 stored grain. 



Hind derived his information largely from American sources — from Fitch 

 particularly. 



A delightful book that found its way to Canada was Gosse's Canadian Naturalist, 

 published by Van Voorst in 1841. In it the author tells of "Walks and Talks" 

 of a father and son, in the neighbourhood of Compton, Province of Quebec. Gosse 

 was master of the school at Compton when he wrote the book. I purchased a 

 copy of it in Hill's book store, Montreal, in 1862. 



The peripatetic mode of teaching supposed to be carried on by the father 

 of the Canadian Naturalist was no new thing in the world. It was the mode 

 pursued by the noted educator Pestalozzi, and long before him by the philosopher 

 Aristotle ; and above all it was the method of Him who led his disciples over the 

 hills of Judea, and taught them divine lessons from common things. 



Gosse may, or may not, have seen a work entitled "Spectacle of Nature, or 

 Nature Displayed," translated from the French by Samuel Humphreys, and dedi- 

 cated to "His Eoyal Highness the Duke of Cumberland." In the dedication of this 



