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TEOCEEDINGS OF THE THIKD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



centralized in order to obtain the best economy and efficiency. That i& 

 the first thing we want — a thorough linowledge of the insects concerned 

 — and it is not a bit of good to reconnuend control nieasiu-es before we 

 have this thorough knowledge. We can of course recommend what 

 Mr. Ghosh calls the " catch and kill " j^olicy, as in the case of bagging 

 of grasshoppers, but measures of that sort are mere temporary palliatives 

 and are not control-measures as I regard the word " control." In the 

 second place, there is room for a considerable amount of education on 

 the part of the raiyat as regards the life-histories and methods of life 

 of the commoner insects. That is in some resjDects simpile work, only 

 requiring organization, but it is rather outside the scope of the investiga- 

 tional staff and could well be left to Provincial activities provided that 

 it was done in close co-operation with the entomological side of the 

 work in order to ensure accuracy. But I think strongly that the investi- 

 gational work must come first. Otherwise, if you start to tell the raiyat 

 this and that about insects, the first thing he will want to know will be 

 the practical question of control. If your investigational work has got 

 far enough to have elucidated definite lines of control, the raiijat will 

 then be willing to listen to what you have to say, if you can tell him not 

 only about the life-history but also about the control ; but, if your 

 information stops short at the life-history and you cannot answer his 

 questions about control, I doubt whether he will see the practical value 

 of what you have to tell him. As far as Nature Study is concerned I 

 quite agree that insects form a suitable subject for use in India but 

 many of the lessons on insects in text-books in use in India are, I think, 

 founded on insects which are not Indian and this point requires amending 

 and the text-books checked by competent entomological workers. 



I think that \ve might have a Resolution on this subject. I have 

 drafted one and, if it meets with general approval, perhaps Mr. Ghosh 

 would like to propose it. 



I propose the following Resolution : — 



" Tills Meeting- 



(1) considers, in view of (he gr-sa*: importance o£ a knowledge of 

 I'lsects and insect life-histories to ths peoples of India, that 

 readers for use in the primary schools in India should, as 

 fa" as possible, contain s mply written accounts of some of 

 the insects commrnly found in the Provinces concerned. 



(8) suggests that entomology sh.uld figure prominently in all 

 courses of Nature Study, and 



