February, '11] osborn: teaching methods 69 



mology is distinctly a special branch of science, and in order to secure 

 a breadth of view or to acquire for it the proper outlook, it should not 

 be entered upon, at least for its special features, until the student has 

 been thoroughly grounded in those branches of knowledge which he 

 must use in the furtherance of his work. I beUeve that a thorough 

 course in zoology should by all means precede the special study of 

 entomology, and if with this there can be extended work in botany 

 and geology, as well as chemistry and physics,- the student is so much 

 the better qualified to secure a proper perspective and to accomplish 

 effective work either in investigation or instruction. 



The equipment for the teaching of this subject is pretty well estab- 

 lished, and there is I think considerable agreement in the different 

 institutions where the subject is seriously taught. In practically every 

 institution Which I have visited recently I have found that there is a 

 full recognition of the necessity for a collection of insects which shall 

 be representative of the different orders for service as a basis for the 

 identification of species, and where advanced work is attempted, serve 

 for the investigation of various groups and sometimes for theses on 

 monographic subjects. That collections in entomology should be 

 even more essential than in general zoology is quite a natural result 

 of the immense numbers of species with which we have to deal, and 

 the fact that specific recognition is such a fundamental necessity in 

 the proper handhng of economic as well as of morphologic problems. 



Equally important with the collection is the equipment of apparatus, 

 microscopes, etc., which are essential in the detailed anatomical and 

 morphologic studies, and with these there will be in all cases a neces- 

 sity for facilities for the tracing of life histories and the study of prob- 

 lems of development. Just how far this matter shall go is evidently a 

 question of opinion, or in some cases a question of resources, since the 

 building of elaborate insectaries is a matter of considerable expense. 

 That there shall be some provision for controlling the conditions and 

 facilitating observation in life histories is granted, but it is evident 

 that very much in the way of thorough training can be done in the 

 field, and with moderate equipment in this direction. 



I have had an opportunity to visit a large number of institutions 

 where departments of Entomology were at work, and it has happened 

 in a great many instances that the insectaries have just at the time of 

 my visit been unused because the problems on which the entomolo- 

 gists were engaged were being conducted from the field and laboratory 

 standpoint. This has occurred so frequently that I have been some- 

 what puzzled to know whether the insectaries furnished so much of 

 advantage as they were expected to, but nevertheless I am very free 

 to grant that there are many problems in which they must be of great 



