O AN ADDRESS TO 



simply a collector of insects is not on that account to be dis- 

 pised. We do not see the apple trees produce fruit at once, 

 but first comes the bud, then the blossom, and afterwards the 

 fruit is formed ; so the collector of insects, his first desire is 

 simply that of getting — 



" Cecropias innatus apes amor urget habendi." 



But even in pursuit of that object he cannot but notice that 

 some modes of getting succeed better than others, that he 

 finds certain insects in certain places, and so by degrees a 

 habit of observation is formed ; and when desirous to add to 

 his own observations those of others, he begins to consult the 

 writings of other Entomologists, he soon discovers that 

 the observations he had made and which struck him as so 

 profoundly novel, had already been recorded more than a 

 hundred years ago ; and here immediately comes an induce- 

 ment for an Entomologist to pursue zealously his school 

 studies. All Entomological books are not written in Eng- 

 lish. To read the memoirs of Reaumur and De Geer it is 

 necessary to know French, and a facility in reading Latin 

 and German will also be found no mean advantage. The 

 Entomologist, therefore, immediately finds a personal interest 

 in prosecuting his studies of these languages. Instead of say- 

 ing, as many others might be tempted to say, " Of what use 

 will Latin be to me?" he exclaims, "I shall then be able 

 to read Haworth's LepidopteraBritannica;" instead of despis- 

 ing French as a language " good enough for girls," he is 

 anxious to get on with it that he may have no difficulty in 

 reading Reaumur and De Geer. Now, though it be quite 

 true that these studies ought to be pursued in good earnest 

 from a sense of duty, yet when we can do so, it is surely 

 desirable to give the scholar a personal interest in the steady 

 prosecution of his studies. 



The philological skill which is used in deciphering some 



