20 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9 



tinct field from that of plant diseases. Fundamental, basic work of 

 this kind demands a liberal and rigorous mental training. 



Again, we hear a great deal these days about research but I am 

 afraid that we do not grasp all that is being said concerning it. In 

 fact, I sometimes wonder if the speakers themselves really understand 

 all that they are saying on the subject. Of one thing, I am convinced. 

 There is little use to talk of real research until genuine scholarship 

 has been attained. The world is demanding research at a time, it 

 seems to me, when we have somewhat fallen away from the rigorous 

 methods of mental discipUne of half a century or more ago. If we 

 expect to discover basic facts and if we expect to justify the expendi- 

 ture of the funds now being thrust upon us for research, we have got 

 to reinstate a love for learning and a sincere desire for scholarship. 

 We have got to foster and create scholars with an unquenchable 

 thirst for the pursuit of the unknown and an ability to find it. 



Not long ago, I had the opportunity of visiting certain intensely 

 busy fields of economic entomological work in the southern part of 

 the United States. During this trip, I saw two phases of work that 

 greatly interested me and that left an impression on my mind that 

 grows with the lapse of time. The two series of experiments dealt 

 with the tropisms of two notorious insect pests — in one case with the 

 chemotropism of a small beetle, in the other case, with the photo- 

 tropism of a moth. I do not know that any satisfactory results in 

 either case have yet been obtained. I do know, however, that these 

 experiments are being made in a fundamental way and I feel that they 

 are fraught with undreamed of possibilities in the way of insect control. 

 It is neither appropriate nor desirable in this paper to discuss the 

 tropisms of insects. What I desire to say is that here is a whole 

 field, comparatively new, for the economic entomologists who are 

 prepared to develop it. European entomologists are already entering 

 the field. The work will demand thorough training in closely related 

 sciences, intimate knowledge of foreign workers and their languages, 

 a sane, well-balanced judgment that can correlate and interpret 

 results, and a mind of imagination and vision that can see far ahead 

 of mere facts. I look forward with gi-eat enthusiasm to the researches 

 that are bound to be made in these fields when we develop men prop- 

 erly trained for the work. 



This leads me to say a word regarding the desirability of every 

 economic entomologist to have a knowledge of the history of his 

 science. For a proper background of the science of applied ento- 

 mology', one should have a fairly full knowledge of the history of the 

 subject. Economic entomology, as a distinct field of endeavor, is 

 comparatively j'oung and a fairly complete knowledge of its rise and 



