4 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. XIII, 



Only two years more than a century have elapsed since this 

 first article upon entomology from the pen of Thomas Say was 

 published. In this century there has occurred upon American 

 soil an enormous extension of entomological research. The 

 century must, however, be divided for our purposes into two 

 epochs, one preceding the great Civil War, the other following it. 



The epoch preceding the Civil War was far less fruitful than 

 that which succeeded it. An examination shows that prior to 

 1865 the number of laborers in the field was small, and that 

 among those engaged in studying North American insects 

 European students and writers still outnumbered those upon 

 the soil of the New World. The publications of native Amer- 

 icans, though valuable, were not numerous. The economic 

 importance of entomology was not generally recognized. The 

 impulse toward biological research, which arose after the 

 announcement of the doctrines of Darwin, Wallace, and their 

 fellow-laborers, had not yet been felt. 



The principal repositories of entomological information in 

 North America during the first half of the nineteenth century 

 are periodicals which were issued by a limited number of 

 learned societies. The Academy of Natural Sciences in Phila- 

 delphia led the way with its Proceedings. The American Phil- 

 osophical Society, which had been founded earlier than the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, became the sponsor in its 

 Transactions for a number of papers written by Thomas Say, 

 the first being "A Monograph of the Genus Cicindela," which 

 was followed by others. Both of these publications became 

 favorite media for the followers of Say in which to announce 

 their discoveries, and the results of their studies. In 1834 The 

 Boston Society of Natural History was formed. Among its 

 earliest publications were two papers, one upon "North Amer- 

 ican Coleoptera," the other upon the "Hymenoptera of Amer- 

 ica," written by Say, but which did not appear until some time 

 after his death. In addition to these publications I may mention 

 "The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences," number- 

 ing thirteen volumes, beginning in 1819, and thereafter con- 

 tinued at irregular intervals; "The Annals of the Lyceum of 

 Natural History of New York," the series extending from 1824 

 to 1877; the "American Journal of Science and Arts," often 

 spoken of as "Silliman's Journal," the entomological content of 

 which is relatively small, though important; "The Proceedings 



