Ixxvi 



strikes me that we should liave little cause for regret if the yearly 

 subscription were doubled. This, however, is a question that 

 requires deliberation; nothing short of a general agreement would 

 warrant its adoption, and I throw out the suggestion only for the 

 purpose of eliciting opinion and inviting discussion. But as to 

 the desirability of the other alternative, there can scarcel}' be two 

 opinions; our numbers ought to be larger; 280 names, and the 

 list includes some foreigners, are not an adequate representation 

 of the entomologists of the United Kingdom. To increase the 

 number, there is little scope for collective or corporate action; 

 we can only rely upon the individual influence and efforts of 

 those who have already joined our ranks. Go out then to the 

 highways and hedges, and compel them to come in. 



To be valued by the public and obtain their support, the 

 Society must contrive to render itself more useful. It is too 

 much to expect, in this old-fashioned country, that the Govern- 

 ment should give us any assistance ; the State cannot even 

 afford us house-room. But the time will come when our 

 existence and our usefulness will be recognised by the jDowers 

 that be. Noxious insects have often been mentioned in 

 despatches ; and a beetle has achieved the unprecedented dis- 

 tinction, the Victoria Cross (with several bars), of being 

 mentioned by its scientific name in an Act of Parliament (40 and 

 41 Vict. c. G8) as " the insect designated as Doryphora decem- 

 lineata, and commonly called the Colorado beetle." When 

 Empires, Kingdoms, and Republics have to sink their differences, 

 and France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Portugal, and Switzer- 

 land agree to a Phylloxera-treaty, and, distrusting the sufficiencj" 

 of their united forces, are seeking the adhesion of Italy and 

 Spain, — when our consuls abroad are occupied in defeating the 

 machinations of the Anisoplias and other nihilists of the crops 

 (see Proc. Ent. Soc. 1878, pp. liii., Ivii.), — when the three estates 

 of this realm have to combine to repel an invasion of the 

 Doryphoras, and our colonies and dependencies are making 

 constant appeals to the home authorities, either to exterminate 

 a horde of savage Termites, or to ward off the attacks of native 

 tribes of Tzetzes, the aid of the scientific branches will be called 

 in requisition, and even the services of the volunteers will not be 

 despised. But seriously, Natural Science has, happily, become 

 part of our general system of education ; our schools and 



