56 



For purposes of ordinary identification in a general work of reference, as 

 this was intended to be, little fault need be found with the major portion of 

 the series. Of course this presupposes that the plates were to be colored, 

 as it was not the author's idea to issue them in any other way In fact the 

 very manner of engraving the figures shows this to be the case. In the 

 plates that were published by him, only half the editions were sent out 

 uncolored, and this only because of the great expense attending coloring 

 so many sets by hand — the distribution being entirely gratuitous. 



In these days of cheapened processes for multiplied color reproduction 

 this matter is a serious obstacle in the way of future publication of Mr. 

 Glover's plates by the Government. Even if an edition of the plates 

 should be issued, without the text they do not tell the whole story, 

 and the text is not finished ; and in several orders the material is hardly 

 systematized or arranged. The plates, if published alone, with only 

 the names, would iiossess a certain value even if not colored, and it 

 would be better to publish in this manner than not at all. Regarding 

 the question of coloring, if sets of the entire series were distributed 

 gratuitously by the Government, the recipients could well aftbrd to have 

 them colored afterwards at their own expense from the original set. 

 Through combinations of a number of persons, so that a large contract 

 could be given out, the work could be done possibly at $.35 to 840 per 

 set, which would be cheaj) for such a complete series of illustrations. 



In regard to the published volumes which bear Mr. Glover's name, 

 these are valuable from their very scarcity, and from the fact that they 

 are all he has given us in published form, save the reports which have 

 appeared from time to time in Government publications. As works 

 giving a certain amount of information on two or three somewhat neg- 

 lected orders of insects they are useful ; but from the stand-point of 

 scientific worth they are more valuable as series of named plates than 

 as scientific publications — the often fragmentary and incomplete text 

 giving little hint of the author's years of observation and study in the 

 field and vivarium. 



As for the name and fame of the author, a published work compris- 

 ing an entire set of the plates alone is a sufiicient monument to his un- 

 tiring industry, indomitable perseverance and skill, and to his faithful 

 labors through a period of twenty -five years for the advancement of 

 American entomological science. He wished to do more, but through 

 the limit set upon human endurance and existence he fell just a little 

 short of carrying out his great i)urpose. He did not strive for fame 

 through any contributions to the vast storehouse of technical knowl- 

 edge, or the dry-dust records of closet investigation that he might have 

 made, nor did he ever wish to be considered an authority. But lie early 

 realized the difiQculties which beset the way of the student of nature, 

 and that other student of practical rural economy, in obtaining a knowl- 

 edge of the insect forms about them, at a time when there were few 

 books and fewer named collections, and set to work to remedy the matter 

 as far as he was able. 



