ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 31 



(started Aug. 1868) enters promisingly upon its second quarter of a century. This is 

 the only Canadian journal devoted to Entomology, but the Ottawa Naturalist, published 

 monthly by the Ottawa Field- Naturalists' Club, frequently contains valuable papers and 

 reports on the insects of the surrounding section of country. Occasional entomological 

 contributions also appear in the Canadian Record of Science, and possibly in the trans- 

 actions of other societies. 



Of the United States' periodical publications the most important are as follows : 

 Transactions of the American Entomological Society ; Fsyche, issued by the Cambridge 

 Entomological Club ; Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington : Entomo- 

 logical Neiv.%hj the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia : Insect Li/e, by the Divi- 

 sion of Entomology, Washington, and the Journal of the ^eiv York Entomological 

 Society, which has recently made a brave and promising entiy into the arena. 



While the more advanced student may be embarrassed by the wealth of entomolog- 

 ical literature provided for him, the beginner has hitherto found the information most 

 needed not to be readily obtained. He has had to seek here and there a little, like the 

 bee gathering honey, and has lost much valuable time in the search, as does the bee when 

 flowers are scattered. A new era seems to be now opening, and the long road is being 

 cleared and smoothed for him. Dr. Riley's directions lor collecting and preserving insects 

 enable him to prepare good specimens and to form satisfactory collections, and by the aid 

 of Dr. Packard's " Entomology for Beginners," or Prof. Comstock's " Introduction to 

 Entomology " (Part I. only issued) he can study their structure and classification. The 

 next stage, the identification of specimens, without having to impose upon more advanced 

 students the labor of naming evert the commonest forms, promises soon to be covered by the 

 issue of hand-books on the various orders, in which will be gathered generic and specific 

 descriptions, now often scattered in foreign and miscellaneous literatures, accessible but to 

 the favoured few. 



Such a help to the determination of the diurnal lepidoptera has already been issued 

 by Dr. Scudder, under the title of " A Brief Guide to the Commoner Butterflies of the 

 United States and Canada." The introductory chapters narrate clearly and concisely the 

 structure and habits of butterflies, and are followed by carefully arranged tables for readily 

 determining the species. The omission of rare forms makes these tables less complicated 

 without lessening the value of the work to the young students for whom it is specially 

 intended. Each species is fully described in its several stages, and interesting facts are 

 added in regard to its habits of Hfe. Those who may consider themselves too far ad- 

 vanced to profit by this valuable little book will await with interest the author's promised 

 "Manual of the Butterflies of North America." From the same facile pen we have also a 

 charming little volume for the general reader, on the Milk-weed Butterfly, simply written 

 and devoid of technicalities, yet giving not only the life history of the species selected as 

 a type of our " winged flower," but much of interest in regard to its tribe. 



The Journal of the New York Entomological Society informs its readers that the 

 preparation of a Hand-book of Coleoptera found in Northeastern America is contem- 

 plated, and is now publishing a preliminary catalogue of the species, compiled, from 

 printed and manuscript lists of various entomologists, by Messrs. Leng and BeutenmuUer, 

 who express the hope that they may be notified of any corrections or additions tending to 

 perfect the catalogue. When this hand-book appears the Butterfly and Beetle collectors will 

 be well-equipped, and the students of the remaining, equally important if less generally 

 attractive, orders will await the preparation at a later date of manuals to meet their needs. 



In conclusion, I have to express the great degree of satisfaction derived from the 

 knowledge that our Entomological Society continues to find itself in a healthy and pro- 

 gressive condition, and to apply itself faithfully to the study of those innumerable forms of 

 life, which, though individually minute and feeble, are in the aggregate a very important 

 factor in modifying the conditions of existence of even man himself. Upon each fellow- 

 member I would urge the necessity of constant work in some selected section of the great 

 field of Entomology, for only by untiring effort, and often by considerable self-denial, can 

 we master its problems and utilize our investigations for the benefit of others. I shall 

 gratefully remember the honour, which- 1 have this year enjoyed, of having been the chief 

 oflicer of this important Society, and shall strive in the future, as in the past, to assist in. 

 its labors. 



