178 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
in such a course should gradually diminish the numbers of the 
insects.” 
This subject was discussed at a Conference held at the Society 
of Arts’ rooms, under the presidency of the Duke of Buccleuch. 
It was made known that the answer to Mr. Murray’s memorial 
to the Lord President was that he did not see that it fell within 
the province of this Department to take action in the matter, 
and there the subject seems to have rested. 
Now the practical pomt I would take this opportunity of 
bringing under the notice of entomologists is this: — Are 
Andrew Murray’s efforts to go for nothing, or will some society 
keep the question to the front till something is actually done ? 
Nothing at present 1s being done in the way of State action, so 
far as I can learn, and I have taken some trouble to get myself 
properly informed. Certain it is that the Science and Art Depart- 
ment, under whose direction he arranged the collection at Bethnal 
Green, is doing nothing to carry on his work, nor has anything 
been done by the department to take any action in the way of 
arranging concerted action to deal with insect damage in some 
such way as Mr. Murray suggested. 
Perhaps it is all right that matters should be as they are ; 
possibly insect damage in England may be overrated. It is 
extremely difficult to know what is the annual amount of damage 
done. Though the subject has received attention for nearly one 
hundred years, and though the amount of interest taken by all 
classes in our agricultural progress is great, and though we have 
central and local agricultural societies in abundance, we are still 
without organization of any kind for obtaining statistics as to 
losses from this cause. However, I find frequent references 
such as this, which I quote from the ‘ Gardener’s Chronicle’ 
of 1875, p. 780:— 
“The subject of insect damage is certainly occupying more of the 
public mind in this country now than it has perhaps ever done before. 
We cannot open a horticultural or agricultural periodical without stumbling 
upon some allusion to it, and there is scarcely a meeting of the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s Scientific Committee at which a large portion of its 
time is not taken up in answering inquiries and discussing questions 
relating to it that have been submitted from without.” 
The ‘Times’ of September 16th, 1876, wrote thus on the 
subject :— 
