22 



depredations. This difficult}^ can not be overcome till ever3^ group 

 having any economic importance has been carefully treated in a sys- 

 tematic way, and if this account also includes a brief general discussion 

 of the economic importance of the groups, subgroups, and possibly 

 even genera and species, together with references to the more impor- 

 tant literature treating of each, we have at our command a series of 

 works which would be of the greatest value to all subsequent students 

 of economic entomology. Such works as these would necessarily be 

 very concise, and yet, if properly arranged and Avith well-selected 

 references, would prove of utmost value not only to systematic, but to 

 economic workers, and would also be exceedingly helpful to all having 

 even a general interest in the groups treated. Dr. Lugger's reports 

 are an approach to this ideal, but it seems to the speaker that such 

 accounts might well be more detailed and should include, as nearly as 

 possible, every species in the fauna; and that the value of such treat- 

 ment would be immensel}^ increased by the addition of bibliographic 

 references as mentioned above. 



Reference has been made to the close analytical study of our eco- 

 nomic publications by Dr. Forbes, and the speaker can do no better 

 than bring his remarks to a close by quoting this talented scientist, as 

 follows: 



It is not the wealth one gathers, but that which he puts to use, which makes him 

 rich. It is not the knowledge we acquire, but what we succeed in making applica- 

 tion of, which makes us wise. It is not the facts of entomology we discover, but 

 those which we persuade the farmer, the gardener, or the fruit-grower to use 

 diligently for the protection or the preservation of his crops, which make our ento- 

 mology economic. To discover without publishing effectually is to waste our time 

 as servants of the public. To publish valuable results without making sure of their 

 appreciation and appropriation by our constituents, is to fail of real usefulness and 

 the reward of usefulness. To bring a result to bear on the practice of one man only 

 when a thousand are suffering for the want of it, is to fail in 99.9 per cent of our 

 proper undertaking. We nuist first do exact, exhaustive, conclusive, practical 

 economic work, and then we nuist find means to get that work utilized or it is an 

 economic dead loss. 



The address was listened to with much interest, and, on motion of 

 Dr. Howard, a vote of thanks was tendered to Mr. Felt. The discus- 

 sion of the address was postponed until the afternoon session, but is 

 here inserted in connection with the address. 



Mr. Washburn called attention to the fact that Mr. Felt had referred 

 to some notes on Diptera, which he thought possibly were left in Pro- 

 fessor Lugger's possession. A careful search for these notes had been 

 made by Mr. Washburn, but none were found. A year had elapsed 

 between Di'. Lugger's death and the time of his taking charge of the 

 work in Minnesota, and during that period things were in a rather 

 chaotic condition. 



