230 FORTY-FTFTH REPORT ON TEE StATE MuSEUM. 



hy the study alone of books. To lliis end there have been 

 arranged, in convenient cases, in conn-jction with ea<*h insect 

 shown, its several stages of the egg, the larva at different 

 periods of its life, and the pupa; its arcihitecture, in its cocoons, 

 nests, burrows, etc.; its various food-plants, showing methods of 

 attack iand injuiy; diseased conditions resulting from fungus 

 and other attacks, or from causes i)rodu(nn;4- monstrosities and 

 deformities; the several paraisites that prey upon it, — in short 

 whatever may serve to illustrate the entire natural history of the 

 insect. So rich has this collection already become, in its 5,000 

 species more or less fully illustrated, that I give it but the praise 

 that it deeei-ves when I say that it has not its equal in any other 

 collection of the kind in the world. 



Nor should I omit passing ref.^r^^nce to the yood that has 

 resulted from the Entomological Department of the Cambridge 

 Museum, in that the study of its ';olle-jtions and liie iuslruction 

 of its professor have largely influenced liie habits of Thought 

 and paths of labor of several students vvlio are now successful 

 teachers of entomology in our colleg':;s aud universities. 



I can not now^ refer to the many notable contributions made 

 by The members of your scientific bodies and others to general 

 entomolog}^, in the extensive collections gathered, in the new 

 forms described, the life-histories ;^iven, the anatomical and 

 historical investigations pursued, and the classifactory work done. 

 Not alone are these lines of study, one and ;;11, of great impor- 

 tance in themselves, and their pursuit eunobJing — for t]ie 

 humblest insect that lives is richly worthy of th^ attention of the 

 highest intellect, — but ftirther, each one of you, each member 

 of community, has direct interest in such la bo.', indispensable 

 as it is to a proper knowledge of the insect vvorld, with which we 

 are brought into such intimate and dependent relations, in our 

 cultivation of the soil, within our homes, and everywhere. 



Without occupying more of the time allotted to me in referring 

 to several other topics of which I would love to speak to you, 

 I will pass on to meet the purpose of my invitation hither. 



But how could I discharge the duty of even a brief discussion of 

 the numerous insect pests which with each returning year force 



