is eoucenied, has few followers. Possibly the hope may be 

 fulfilled that some of our members will be induced to enter 

 the ranks of Entomology, which ofPer so many unique 

 opportunities of studying the great Mendelian question of 

 variation, inasmuch as it is possible to produce many 

 generations of a species in a comparatively short period. 



The metamorphosis of insects seems to have attracted 

 the attention of authors from the earliest times. 

 Allusion is oftentimes made in the Bible to insects of 

 almost every one of the modern known orders. The 

 locust, fly, bee, lice, moth, are all mentioned, but not 

 butterflies. This is probably accounted for by its being a 

 more recent name. Even Swammerdam, in 1735, speaks of 

 them as " day moths." Aristotle appears to have accumulated 

 a number of facts relative to the science, and it is to be 

 regretted we have but an imperfect account of his studies. 

 Several centuries later, Pliny gives us what was then known 

 ■of insects, and mentions Apollodorus as the first monographer 

 •of insects, and it is from ..^lian we learn that artificial flies 

 were used by the Grecian anglers. 



From that time for nearly 1,500 years we have an almost 

 absolute blank in Entomological literature. About the 

 middle of the 15th century, some attention appears to have 

 been paid to insects, notably by one Ulysses Aldromandus, 

 who died in 1605. He wrote a great Zoological work, which 

 death prevented him from finishing, and he made probably the 

 first attempt at a systematical arrangement since the days of 

 Aristotle. From this time onward great activity was shewn 

 in Entomology. Though MoufCet's " Tlieofrtnn iiiKertonim " 

 was only published in the 17th century, it may be regarded 

 as the pioneer of English works, having had a long and 

 chequered career previous to reaching the public. It was 

 commenced by Dr. Edward Wotton, of whom we know but 

 little. The next we hear of it is that the manuscripts fell 

 into the hands of Dr. Thomas Penery, an eminent physician 

 and botanist in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who seems to 

 have devoted a good deal of time to the study of insects, 



