11 



doptera, three Hymenoptera, five Neuroptera, two Hemiptera, three Diptera, and one 

 Orthoptera, and when spread out they presented a very fine appearance. To ensure cor- 

 rectness in naming, all doubtful specimens wci'e as far as possible submitted to specialists. 

 Our best thanks are due to Mr. A. R. Grote, of Buffalo, N. Y., who twice visited Loudon 

 for the purpose of examining and naming our Lepidoptera. To Dr. A. S. Packard, of 

 Salem, Mass., we an- indebted for naming some of our Geometers, and to Dr. Geo. H. 

 Horn, of Philadelphia, for his abundant labours in naming our Coleoptera. 



The cases were packed with cotton in suitable Cabinets and these enclosed in strong 

 outer cases with elastic packing between the two and with these precautions the collection 

 reached its destination in safety. Arrangements were made for the careful unpacking of 

 the specimens on arrival, and their proper classification when displayed. Similar provis- 

 ions have also been made for their re-packing and return. Our insects are displa3-ed in 

 the Canadian department in Agricultural Hall, on a suitable stand built for the purpose, 

 seventy-six feet in length. The many encomiums bestowed on our collection by those 

 best able to judge of its merits will warrant us in stating that our Society may justly take 

 to itself the credit of having brought together by far the finest collection of Canadian in- 

 sects ever seen. We trust that this magnificent collection will, on its return, be preserved 

 as far as possible in its present state as a collection of reference for the convenience of our 

 members who may desire to name their specimens and as an enduring memento of the in- 

 terest taken by our Society in the great Centennial Exhibition. 



On behalf of the Committee, 



Wm. Saunders, 



Chairman. 



From among the many favourable notices of our collection which appeared in the 

 American papers, we clip the following from The Daily Graphic, New York, Sept. 26, 1876 : — 



At the Centennial. — The Exhibit of the Entomological Society of Ontario, Canada. — 

 Every lover of nature, every admirer of beauty in form or colour who visits the Centen- 

 nial Exjjosition can scarcely avoid being charmed with the display of Canadian insects, 

 exhibited by the enterprising Entomological Society of the Province of Ontario. The 

 collection is in the Canadian department in Agricultural Hall. It is arranged in eighty- 

 .six glazed cases laid in a double row upon a table over seventy-five feet in length. Forty- 

 five of the^e cases are filled with butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) ; twenty-seven with 

 beetles (Coleoptera) ; and the remaining fourteen with insects of all other orders — viz. : 

 Bees, wasps, hornets, and other stinging and piercing insects, cicadas and bugs (propei-ly 

 so-called), dragon flies, lace-winged flies, Ac, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, &c., the small 

 two-winged flies, and many others. Many of the specimens are so large and so gorgeous- 

 ly coloured that they have the appearance of natives of seme erf the tropics rather than of 

 the more northern Canada — a country which many are apt to imagine is a land of ice and 

 snow. This display, combined with that of the Canadian Fruit-Growers' Association near 

 by, ought to do much to instruct the general public in regard to the vast resources and 

 the excellent climate of the great Dominion. 



The collection must not, however, be regarded merely as a display of curious or beau- 

 tiful objects ; it possesses a very high scientific value as well. The practised student of 

 entomology will there find thousands of species of insects, all cori'ectly named both as 

 regards genus and species, and all scientifically arranged according to the best system of 

 classification. Although the critic may find fault with the particular system of nomen- 

 clature that has been adopted in some special families, he must confess that there is given 

 an excellent illustration of the progress of scientific zoology in Canada, and of tlie energy 

 and skill of the members of the Canadian Entomological Society iu particular. Tliis 

 society was first organized in 18G3, and had few members and exceedingly limited re- 

 sources. For five years it continued to make good progress in a quiet way, the labours 

 of its members being chiefly confined to the collection and determination of species and 

 the publication of lists of Canadian insects. A great deal of good work was thus done, 

 and the way was paved for other work of a more practical though not a more useful and 

 scientific character. In August, l!S68, the society issued the first number of the Gnnadian 

 Entoriwlorjist, a small monthly publication, containing original papers on the classification, 



