than ever before. The thanks of the whole Society are assuredly due to the energetic and 

 talented Editor, Mr. Saunders, who has been, indeed, its mainstay from the issue of its first 

 number till now. It would be well if all our members would aid him, not only by contribu- 

 tions, but also by increasing the circulation, and thereby improving the means of support of 

 the publication. 



When I applied just now the term " limited " to our field of enquiry, I only did so 

 when considering Entomology as one amongst a large number of sections of the great circle of 

 natural sciences, which includes within its area the study of all things material which come 

 within the range of man's intellectual powers. If we look, however, at Entomology and its 

 objects alone, we cannot fail to see at once that it is practically without limit— that there is 

 work enough for thousands of investigators for almost innumerable generations to come. And 

 when we couple with Entomology other kindred sciences, such as Botany, Geology and Phy- 

 sical Geography, which are so closely allied that no student can safely overlook them, we 

 begin almost to be overwhelmed with the vast extent of this field of knowledge that we seek 

 to explore. So vast, indeed, is the field that no one now ventures to survey the whole of it, 

 except in a very general way ; each explorer finds himself compelled — if he would do any effec- 

 tive work — to confine his labour to some one or two of its sections or subsections. By this 

 division of labour, all departments of the Science will by degrees be taken up, and much that 

 is now a ' terra incoi/tiiia ' will becoQie familiar to the patient explorer. 



In our own country — within the bounds of this great Dominion — there is need of many 

 more students and explorers. Even in this Province of Ontario, the headquarters of our So- 

 ciety, where more has been done than in any other part of Canada, there is yet room for a 

 great increase to our band of collectors and investigators. How incomplete, for instance, is 

 even yet our list of Diurnal Lepidoptera, and how many pages are still blank in the life history 

 of some of our commonest butterflies? Our able Editor, my excellent friend, Mr. Saunders, 

 has done much to fill up these blank pages, and his work is everywhere recognized as thorough 

 and authoritative ; but yet there remains much more to be done, that we hope our members 

 will before long accomplish. If we turn to Crepuscular and Nocturnal Lepidoptera, we must 

 feel almost appalled at the extent of our ignorance. For those who have the time and the 

 ability, I can think of no more interesting or attractive field of enquiry — none that will sooner 

 or better repay the pains-taking student, whether he looks for fame or pleasure, whether he 

 sighs for fresh fields to conquer, or desires to set his foot where man has not trodden before. 

 In a department where so much remains to be done, we all, I am sure, offer a most cordial wel-. 

 come to one who has recently cast in his lot among us. and has traversed the broad Atlantic 

 in order to study the Noctuidae of this country. I allude to Mr. George Norman, of St 

 Catharines, late of Forres, in Scotland. ^ 



In another order of insects, the Coleoptera, much, no doubt, has been accomplished. 

 Through the pain.s-taking labours of a Billings and a Pettit, not to mention other good work- 

 ers, and by the aid of the great authorities in the neighbouring States, Dr. Leconte and Dr. 

 Horn in particular, we have been able to increase our list of Canadian beetles from a few 

 hundreds at the birth of the Society, to more than as many thousands now. But still how 

 very much more remains to be done ? What a field of labour there is before both student 

 and collector in the Carabidae, the Staphylinidje, the Curculionid» and other numerous families 

 of beetles! May we not hope that during the coming winter our present scattered stores of 

 knowledge will be utilized and made available for the good of all, by the compilation and 

 publication of a large addition to our old and valuable list of Canadian Coleoptera ? 



If there remains so much to be done in those two favourite orders, what shall I .say of the 

 remainder, that are so generally neglected? It is surely time that some of our members 

 should devote themselves to the working up of such interesting orders aa the Neuroptera, the 

 Hymenoptera, the Orthoptcra, the Hemiptcra, even if no one can be found at present to take 

 up the study of the more difiicult Diptera. 



In all these orders there is the nucleus of a collection in the cabinets of our Society, 

 while no doubt much additional material would be furnished by individuals to any member 

 who will take up in earnest the study of any one of them. It would be a great contribution 

 to our knowledge of Canadian insects if there could be published by the Society carcftilly pre- 

 pared lists of as many .species as possible in each of these orders. Such lists would, of course, 

 be very incomplete at first, but they could easily be so arranged in publication that additions 

 might be made to them at any time, as our stores of knowledge increase. 



