COOPERATION IN ENTOMOLOGY 315 



found accurately named by specialists, and labeled with exact locality, date 

 of capture and often valuable ecological data in addition. To assemble 

 the scattered information possessed by these entomologists, to form a local 

 collection of insects, complete, accurately determined by specialists, labeled 

 as it should be labeled, was the task undertaken by the Museum with the 

 hearty cooperation of the members of the society. Individual response 

 has of course varied with the amount of scientific spirit individually pos- 

 sessed, but all the really active members have contributed specimens as well 

 as time to the improvement of the series. To represent the Local Collection 

 as complete would be far from the truth; it is merely in active progress. 

 Frequently on Saturday afternoons during the winter, eight or ten entomolo- 

 gists will be found hard at work, comparing specimens with descriptions, 

 adding to the collection, exchanging one with the other, and bringing the 

 Local Collection each time a little nearer to completion. At these meetings 

 the taxonomic characters of each species are in turn pointed out, duplicates 

 from the larger private collections are distributed to the collections of the 

 Children's Museum and of the Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 

 and to the smaller collections; data of exact localities, food plants and dates 

 of capture are collected and kept in permanent form; and every one pres- 

 ent gains information and specimens personally as well as aiding the Local 

 Collection by his attendance and gifts. 



The number of species to be dealt with is appalling, certainly not less 

 than fifteen thousand, and the taxonomic difficulties are increased by the 

 microscopic size of many species, the absence of such comprehensive books 

 as exist in Europe, and the neglect of certain orders by practically all local 

 collectors. These difficulties must be overcome by the Museum staff, which 

 is at present far too small in this department for rapid progress. The gaps 

 in the Local Collection however, are gradually being filled, and a complete 

 collection that will be of inestimable service to future generations of ento- 

 mologists is actually in sight, as one of the first fruits of cooperation between 

 the Museum and the New York Entomological Society. 



Further results are to be noted in field work, which in cooperation with 

 members of the Entomological Society has been prosecuted locally- in Florida, 

 in Newfoundland, Labrador and elsewhere, resulting in the addition to the 

 Museum collections of many thousands of specimens annually. The work 

 that has been done has enlisted also the aid of specialists outside of the 

 society, who noting the activity resulting from this cooperation, have gladly 

 contributed their information. Thus ]Mr. C. W. Johnson, Mrs. Annie Trum- 

 bull Slosson, ]\Ir. E. A. Schwarz, Mr. J. H. Emerton, Colonel Thomas L. 

 Casey, Colonel Wirt Robinson and others have been in active communica- 

 tion with the department. 



Nor is this all. Entomology is essentially a practical science, and al- 

 though one of the youngest, one of the most important in its relations to 



