246 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



entomologists spend on Entomology does not produce one-half 

 the educational result that other subjects would by spending a 

 very small fraction of the same time on them. That there is 

 some educational value every educated person must confess, and 

 Mr. Coste states this most positively in his article. The question 

 is the amount of educational advantage obtained compared with 

 time spent. Concerning the educational value of Entomology, 

 the great value of Entomology seems to be that it increases our 

 powers of observation and discrimination. No science could 

 increase them better, but there are branches of science where the 

 powers of observation and discrimination are equally developed. 

 Botany would do so, and with less laborious indoor work, 

 although a good deal of that is needed if a good botanical 

 collection is made. The power of reasoning is developed but 

 little comparatively by the science, and all other senses are 

 equally or more specially developed by other subjects with far 

 less labour. From this I must except order and regularity, 

 developed by the proper arrangement and classification of the 

 insects we collect. Would any reasonable man suggest that his 

 son should be put through a course of Entomology for its 

 educational value ? I have put hundreds of lads through a 

 course of " General Biology " where Entomology has had its 

 place equally with the great facts of Physiology, Zoology, and 

 Botany; but to deal with it specially as an educational means 

 has never entered my mind, enthusiastic entomologist though I 

 have been for years. 



This is the view I believe Mr. Coste meant to place before 

 the readers of the ' Entomologist,' and I may say emphatically 

 that if a man takes up a subject entirely from an educational 

 point of view and with the idea of improving his general 

 education, he would do infinitely better to put himself through a 

 course of Physics, Biology, Mathematics, or some sucli science. 

 If his taste incline to Natural History, let him take it up as a 

 whole ; he will get a greater educational result out of it. One or 

 two seasons spent in collecting Lepidoptera would be sufficient 

 to give a collector the knowledge of the habits of many species, 

 a knowledge of the embryological states, of the difi"erences in 

 structure of the various larger families, and metamorphoses 

 through which Lepidoptera pass ; in fact, all the chief educational 

 points, as well as a knowledge of classification. 



