34 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 5 



over literature bearing upon his work, and may, and sometimes does, 

 draw incorrect conclusions from his reading. The habit of hasty 

 reading is happily overcome, however, by the use of subject index 

 cards, with which we are all familiar. 



Points upon which many entomologists (as well as other station 

 workers, be it said) may be criticised are plagiarism, non-acknowledg- 

 ment of facts or illustrations obtained from other entomologists, the 

 taking away of records of experiments, and making use of same after 

 leaving an institution; borrowing specimens for a period of ninety- 

 nine years or more; deliberately attempting to obtain an offer from 

 some other institution in order to make use of it in getting a raise of 

 salary in the station in which he is already employed, and other mis- 

 deeds of a more or less glaring nature. 



Perhaps one of the worst failings of the average entomologist is to 

 accept without proof the statements or conclusions of his fellow 

 workers, and errors are thus transmitted sometimes from one genera- 

 tion to another, until some one more thoughtful than his contempora- 

 ries or predecessors, by his own work discloses the error of a certain 

 statement. Unfortunately there are among us few entomologists 

 bold enough to publicly criticise their own publications, when they 

 have discovered a mistake, though an early rectification might do a 

 world of good. Duplication of work, then, would seem desirable 

 both as a check, and to put an end to the transmission of erroneous 

 statements. 



We are all, I think, learning that it is unwise to make predictions as 

 to insect injury. As you may remember, it was predicted that the 

 Cotton Boll Weevil would never advance to the point it has reached, 

 yet, in spite of this, and similar warnings, I am today repeatedly 

 predicting in Minnesota that no grain aphis will, on account of our 

 climate, which is practically as favorable to aphid parasites as to the 

 aphids themselves, cause any serious injury in our fields. 



The importance of constant watchfulness over our own work and 

 our own words cannot be overestimated, — a mistake before the public 

 is costly, — we lose the confidence of our constituents; as President 

 Vincent of our own University has aptly said: "The discomfiture 

 of the expert is joy to the average citizen!" 



One great disadvantage we labor under lies in the fact that we do 

 not hear all the criticism which may be given our work. We are 

 applied to for relief, we give that relief to the best of our ability, and 

 in eight cases out of ten that is the last we hear of it. Our constituent 

 may have failed to get good results, either through his own negligence 

 or carelessness, or through our not understanding all the conditions 

 surrounding his problem. He may be heaping maledictions upon us 



