Pro(_'EEdin'gs. 1924 



am a lover (if all ]\I(itluT Xattu-c's (/liildrcii. l)c they birds, l)easts, insects, 

 or plants; and though I have been a collector for nearly half a century, 

 my keenest pleasure lias always been derived from watch iiii;- the living- 

 creature at work or play. The economic value of an insect, bird, or mam- 

 mal weighs but little in my regard. And just there is the line of fi.ssion 

 between the old and the new entomology. The question of dollars and 

 cents looms large on the mental horizon of the modern man; with the old- 

 timer dollars and cents were a minus quantity. 



I realize fullj- the importance of the economic side of entomology. 

 As a citizen 1 am must keenly alive to the valuable — nay. I may say the 

 invaluable, work which is being carried on by the gallant band of work- 

 ers selected by the government to control insect pests. It is a noble, a 

 patriotic work; but to me it makes little appeal. Nor do 1 think that I 

 am alone in this avoidance of the economic side of entomology. I think 

 I belong to a class (a vanishing class, it may be) who study the insect 

 Iiurely for the inherent interest in the creatui-e itself. 



There is a third class of entomologists, oft'-shoots or by-products of 

 tlu> other two — the simon-pure systematists. Avho care not an atom, or 

 should I say an electron ? for the creatvire, living or dead, except in so far 

 as it avails'them to add another Greek-and-Latin hybrid of a name to the 

 hair-splitting monographs they are compiling. The late S. W. Williston, 

 commenting on this modern mania for multiplying genera and species, 

 says: "By an excessive splitting of genera broader relationships are lost 

 sight of. and the tendency is inevitable to restore those evidences by the 

 invention of new group terms to express them. Possibly it may be neces- 

 sary some time in the future to have a (piantitative chemical analysis of 



a mosquito before deciding to which genus it may belong convenience 



is an important end of classification, as well as the expression of relation- 

 ships." 



What amateur entomologist can liope to keep abreast of the bib- 

 liography that is piling up in his own particular group.' And look at the 

 changes in nomenclature that are thrust uixm us I Xo, I am convinced 

 that the old-fashioned entomologist will soon become extinct, like the 

 Dodo and the Great Auk. And it is a pit.v ; tor he was a harmless imbe- 

 cile and afforded rare sport for the small bo.v and the yokel. 



I cannot conclude these rambling remarks without a reference, how- 

 ever brief, to some of our departed members, good men and true, who 

 wielded the net in woodland trails that now are ])aved highways, and in 

 primeval forest vistas that now form the bedi'aggled outskii-ts of a great 

 metropolis. 



The IJev. (J. W. Taylor was a t.vjncal entomologist of the old school, 

 and one whose work in his special field will long endure. So, too. was 

 Tom Wilson, who carried on his work and his interests as an amateui- and 

 a collector while faithfull.v perfoi-ming his duties in the economic field. 



