18 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. X, 



days of increasing scientific activity. We like to believe that 

 we live in the Age of Science ; but there are many more lunatics 

 than scientific investigators in the country. When science 

 really comes to its own, when the spirit of science permeates 

 the community, there can be no doubt that the whole face of 

 our civilization will be changed. If, however, the material 

 advance due to science is unaccompanied by a corresponding 

 moral elevation; if scientific discovery merely sharpens the 

 edge of the weapons of discord, the disruptive forces in society, 

 it can only hasten the collapse of human civilization. Thus we 

 understand why, in the warring countries of Europe, every 

 effort is made to keep alive the sacred flame in the temples of 

 pure science. Academies meet, journals are published, researches 

 are continued, not from any indifference to the events going on 

 around, but to preserve, so far as may be, the habit of mind 

 which rises above the dust of conflict, and looks toward the 

 future of mankind. 



If Europe can do this in war, how much more should America 

 in peace; unless, indeed, we are obliged to confess ourselves 

 relatively incapable of the larger vision. The Republic of 

 Science is the greatest of all republics, and those conscious of 

 having a part in the common task of the world cannot cease to 

 co-operate, even in times of war. Thus, in a large sense, phil- 

 osophical entomology, entomology which recognizes the entire 

 scope and purpose of our science, is the most serviceable, the 

 most truly economic, of all. It ceases to be mere science, and 

 blending with those deeper feelings which we ' call religion, 

 transforms our whole point of view. 



