1'i!(il'i:eihni:s, 1!J14. 



students at the pi-eseiit day who have such au abuudanee of literature uiiou cvtM-y 

 deiiartment of natural history. Such works as Coiiistock's 'Manual for the Study 

 of Insects' and Mrs. Coiustock's 'How to Know the Butterflies' would at: that 

 time have been treasures indeed. However, there is no doubt that the ditiicnities 

 encountered helped one to build upon a sound foundation and to acquire a more 

 complete knowledge than could be attained by attemptius to hastily read a super- 

 aliundance of publications. 



" At the suggestion of Professor Croft, the speaker made the acquaintance of 

 Mr. Wm. Saunder.s, of London, who carried on at the time the business of chemist 

 and druggist on a moderate scale. The ac(piaintance thus formed soon ripened 

 into a mutual fi-iendshi]) and esteem which has continued unbroken to the present 

 time. 



"In the ('(iiHiiliaii Stitiiralixt for June. 3802. there appeared a list of persons 

 residing in Canada, all interested in the collection and study of insects, which 

 contained no less than thirty-si.x names. This was prepared by the speaker, with 

 the assistance of Jlr. Saunders. It was then proposed that a meeting should l)c held 

 for the purpose of bringing together as many as possible of those interested, and to 

 form some kind of club or society which would be of general benefit to those 

 concerned. The result of this publication was the holding of a meeting in Toronto 

 at the residence of Professor Croft in September, 1802. As there were only ten 

 persons present, it was thought inadvisable to form a society at that time, but a draft 

 of a constitution was drawn up and it was decided to hold another meeting during 

 the coming year. On April liJth, 1S(;.3, a meeting was held in the library of the 

 Canadian Institute, and the formation of the Entomological Society of Canada was 

 then decided upon and its constitution drawn up and adopted. The attendance was 

 small, but several who were unable to be present had given in their adhesion to the 

 movement. Dr. Henry Croft, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Toronto, 

 was elected President; Mr. Saunders, of London, Secretary-Treasurer; and the Rev. 

 .las. Hibbert, Cur.-itor. The others present were: The Rev. Wm. HincUs, Professor 

 of Botany and Zoology at the University of Toronto; Dr. Sangster, Principal of the 

 Normal School, Toronto ; Dr. Beverley R. Morris, an Englishman who not long after 

 returned to England and there became editor of a popular magazine on natural 

 history; Dr. Cowdry and his son, Jlr. X. II. Cowdry, of York Mills; and Messrs. 

 Saunders and Bethune. The following gentlemen were unable to be present, but 

 became original meml>ers of the Society : Mr. E. Baynes Reed, Barrister, Loudon ; 

 Mr. E. Billings, editor of the Canadian tiaturaUst and Geologist, for many years 

 attached to the Geological Survey; Mr. R. V. Rogers, Barrister, Kingston; Mr. T. 

 Re.ynolds, Engineer of the Great Western Railway, now part of the Grand Trunk 

 system, Hamilton; Mr. B. Billings, Prescott, who subsequently lived in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Ottawa and formed a large collection of Coleoptera ; Rev. V. Clementi, 

 Peterborough, an English Church clergyman, who was gi-eatly interested in the 

 various asi>ects of natural history. Mr. Wm. Saunders was appointed by the 

 Dominion Government in 1886 to establish and superintend a series of experimental 

 farms extending from Xova Scotia to Briti.sh Columbia. For twenty-five years Dr. 

 Saunders conducted this work in a most able and successful manner, and his name 

 is well known not only tliroughout Canada, but also in the United States and Great 

 Britain. 



"The Society thus formed began its career of active usefulness and it has 

 steadily grown and prosperetl to the present time. In 1808 the publication of the 

 Canadian Entomolonist was begun, the first number consisting of only eight pages. 

 It is now in its f(irty-fifth year of publication and is sent to all parts of the world. 

 In 1870 the first .\nnual Iteiiort of the Society on " Noxious, Beneficial, and other 

 Insects' was publislu'<l. the three contributors being Dr. Saunders. Mr. Baynes Reed, 

 and the speaker. What reall.v made the fortunes of the Society was the invasion of 

 Ontario by the Colorado potato-beetle. The Board of Agriculture for the Province 



