Proceedings. 1!)1:^. 29 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 

 (G. O. Dav, F.E.S.) 



It gives 1110 groat ploasure to bo Iioro to-day and to tako jiart in this voi-y 

 succossful mooting. It was a happy .snggestion, which I think is dne to Mr. Uriltaiu, 

 that a snnimer meeting should be held, and held in Vernon. I think the Society i.s 

 fortunate in having as Secretary and Assistant Secretary such able, energetic, and 

 enthusiastic men as Mr. Treherne and Mr. Brittain. So long as they are kind enough 

 to act, I feel sure that the Society will have its interest sustained, and the precedent 

 the.v are setting will be a tine incentive to those who follow after. It appears to 

 me that you have in this neighbourhood more numerous — I will not say more 

 enthusiastic — followers of the study of entomology than the Coast and Vancouver 

 Island, and that Vernon might easily become the headquarters of the Society. 



Ill regard to this question, it occurs to me that iu appointing future Presidents 

 and Vice-Presidents it might be advisable to choose one from each district ; that is 

 to say, a President from Vernon and a Vice-President from Vancouver, or vice versa. 

 But. of course, that can be discussed at the general meeting in January. 



What I particularly want to do this evening, in the few remarks I have to 

 address you, is to make a plea for the study of what is called, for the want of a 

 better description, " Systematic Entomology." When I looked through the pro- 

 gramme of the proceedings of this meeting, it seemed to me that the economic side 

 held the field. I was in hopes that some of the jiapers might include general 

 oiitomolog.y, but this was not to be. Please do not mistake me and thinlc that X do 

 not appreciate economic entomology. The study is mo'st interesting and valuable, 

 but I wish to urge on all our members the broader view of the whole field of 

 entomology. The collecting, naming, classifying, and making life-histories of any 

 order of insects possess a great charm, which no doubt most of us realize. It is 

 quite right that economic entoraologj- should hold iirst place. It is a most important 

 stud.v, and its importance is being increasingly recognized as time goes on — prin- 

 cipally, I think, because the general public are being enlightened by the bulletins 

 on the subject which have been published by the various scientific bodies, showing 

 the enormous damage collectively done to growing crops and trees, and also by 

 interesting articles on insects given in the popular magazines. Up to quite recent 

 years entomology was looked upon as a merely puerile pursuit. It is a curious fact 

 that anything that is cheap and plentiful is held in light esteem. I might almost say 

 despised, by mankind in general. To them all insects are common and insignificant 

 looking and below the serious notice of grown men and women (except the said 

 insects sting), and the person who dabbles in them and studies their little ways is 

 considered a poor harmless kind of individual of very eccentric tastes. But when 

 •' the man in the street " recognizes that there is money in it — that the control of 

 insects means money, and the State considers the matter important enough to employ 

 specialists to obtain information and to pay them for the work — then the subject 

 assumes a different aspect. 



This is a great gain in public opinion, and I hope that the increased respect 

 already obtained for the subject will continue to grow, and that the appearance of 

 a person with a butterfi,v-net in the country will not cause any more amusement than 

 seeing a man with a fishing-rod or a bag of golf-clubs. 



Then, again, the importance of the economic side is emphasized by the fact that 

 the Society is subsidized by a grant from the Provincial Government, and the 

 authorities will naturally like to see some practical results from the members of 

 our Society. This is already assured by the useful and informing paixM's which have 

 lieen read and which are to be dolivored to-morrow. So I may urj^o ujion the 

 members what I may call the natural-science side in contradiction to the ultra-useful 

 side. I must confess to feeling rather out of place among such a nunibor of eminent 



