" Old Entomological Literature," 



BEING THE 



PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 



Delivered at the Royal Institution, Liverpool, to the Members 



of the 



LIVERPOOL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY, 



On Friday, the 21st day of January, 1910, 



BY 



F. N. PIERCE, F.E.S. 



It was not without considerable hesitancy that I consented 

 to occupy the highly honoured position of President of the 

 Liverpool Microscopical Society, a position which, in the 

 past, has been filled by many men of learning, whose names 

 I hold with bated breath. Among them are those whose 

 works live after them, though they have passed to their long 

 rest : and others who have climbed the ladder of fame and 

 are looked upon as experts in their several studies: whereas 

 in my own case I have remained stationary, a mere student, 

 learning but slowly the great mysteries of nature, lost in 

 wonder, and grasping but dimly all the marvels revealed by 

 the }uicroscope. 



In the twenty-one years that I have been a member of 

 this Society it is natural to conclude I have arrived at man's 

 estate. On the contrary, I still feel to be but a child in 

 science, realising the littleness of my knowledge and the vast 

 field open for investigation. It is this feeling of weakness that 

 makes me hesitate to address you upon any microscopical 

 branch of study. I choose rather as my subject " Old 

 Entomological Literature," and desire to speak of books 

 written on my favourite pursuit, which, so far as our Society 



