REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETAKV. 1G3 



A very proniiuont, if not the main feature of the present exliibit. distinf,nii.shinj; it 

 from all its predecessors, was the special display of wax models of i)lant's showUig 

 tlie perfect development in eonjunetion with representation of the results of insect 

 injury, and the enlarged models of some of the more important of the injurious and 

 benelicial species. Most noteworthy in connection with tlie many plant models 

 were those of Indian corn, cotton, and hop. These three plants were selected and 

 elaborated because representing typical and leading American crops; the corn more 

 particularly as the leading staple of the Northern Central States, the cotton for the 

 Southern belt, and the hop as a leading industry of the Northeast and Northwest. 

 They were all intended to illustrate and draw attention to the affecting insects dis- 

 played in connection with them, which pur))08e they served admirably. 



The important models of injurious insects comprised the Hop Louse, Chinch Bug, 

 and Oyster-shell Scale, each represented in all of their several stages. The beneh- 

 cial insects were represented by models of the imported Australian Ladybird ( Fedalia 

 cnrdinalis), showing life-history: structural models of the domestic silkworm, moth 

 and larva ; and of the Honey Bee, all stages and economy. A similar anatomical model 

 of the European Cockchafer was also exhibited. A further exhibit of useful insects 

 was the showing of silk moths, the larva^ of which eith.-r now furnish an important 

 article of daily necessity or may be capable of doing so, comprising a representation of 

 the ditferent stages, in some cases witii silk, of 12 important native and foreign species. 

 More strictly appertaining to the National Museum were the displays hi system- 

 atic and biologic entomology and miscellaneous exotic and native insects, com- 

 l)rising Section 2. The systematic and biologic series were represented by means 

 of some 23 sample boxes taken from the national collection and indicating the 

 actual present condition of the collections in ditferent orders and the system fol- 

 lowed by the curator in the disposition and arrangement of the material, and was 

 intended for the edification of visiting entomologists, who would be interested in 

 the standard national collections as much if not more than the special educational 

 displays in the economic series for the general pu1>lic. Here also mav be classed the 

 general insect display consisting of some 28 boxes tilled with the striking insect forms 

 of Central America, Venezuela, Honduras, and Brazil, much of the material for which 

 was recently collected by Mr. H. H. Smith, and is undetermined and undescribed. 

 It was found possible to secure this valuable collection out of the fund allotted for 

 this Department, and by so doing at once greatly enrich the national collection in 

 Central and South American insects, and secure material for the making of a showy 

 exhibit to represent the beautiful and varied forms and colors assumed by insect 

 life near the tropics. With this last, and serving a similar purpose, may be 

 classed the display of Golden-rod insects, which was designed to appeal to the 

 ajsthetic taste of those who see or are interested in the beautiful aspects of nature's 

 handiwork, rather than in practical applications in the arts and sciences. The vast 

 number of insects that frequent the Solidago, either to breed on the diflerent parts 

 of the plant or merely attracted to its bloom, together with the great beauty of the 

 plant itself and its wide distribution and distinctive American habitat, led to its 

 special treatment. A very realistic model plant, in wax, served as a center about 

 and on which to display its more characteristic or common insect frequenters. 



The remaining sections of the exhibit were economic in character and pertained 

 more strictly to the Department of Agriculture, and may be very briefly referred to. 

 What has been termed the professional exhibit was a display of the diverse appa- 

 ratus and methods for collecting, rearing, mounting, and preserving insects, includ- 

 ing in all some 66 displays of different styles of butterfly, sweeping and water nets, 

 collecting umbrellas, sieves, collecting and pinning forceps, collecting bottles and 

 boxes, breeding cages or vivaria of all sorts; spreading, drying, and mounting 

 apparatus; preservative and mounting substances, vial-holders, and insect boxes'! 

 The insecticide."! and apparatus for applying these to plants comprised of the former 

 120 and of the latter 12.") exhibits. 



