INTRODUCTION. V 



moirs as well as to men, and if either desire to get into good 

 society they must take care to avoid whatever is less highly 

 valued in the more refined circles, whether of fashion, litera- 

 ture, or science. 



Our friend's chief objection, however, to the publication of 

 Transactions ^ at our own charges ' is that the Society cannot 

 afford the expense, an objection which we confidently trust 

 the Treasurer's statement of its affairs at the ensuing anniver- 

 sary will satisfactorily answer ; in the mean time we may add, 

 that the success of the Transactions must depend on their 

 popularity, and that again on their merit, and this last on the 

 exertions of our Members, of which we have now the grati- 

 fication of laying, as we think, a fair specimen before the 

 world. Let us hope, therefore, that our friend will soon see 

 cause to change his opinion and dismiss his fears, and as the 

 best ground for doing so, that he will lend his aid towards 

 ensuring the popularity of the Transactions of the Entomolo- 

 gical Society by contributing largely to their contents. 



Little more need be added ; the volume is now before the 

 public, and the contributors to its contents await its ver- 

 dict without fear, because they are certain it will be guided 

 by justice. Let it, however, be kept in mind, that the great 

 and ultimate object of the founders of the Society is to pro- 

 mote the study of Entomology, both with a view to its prac- 

 tical utility in the common affairs of life, and the still more 

 important influence which, when properly pursued, it is cal- 

 culated to exert over the moral and religious feelings of its 

 cultivators. Even within the short period that has elapsed 

 since its formation, an application has been received on behalf 

 of the sugar- planters of the island of Grenada, calling on the 

 Society to take into consideration the ravages which the 

 Cane-fly has of late years committed in that colonj^, and to 

 endeavour to suggest some means of annihilating, or at least 

 of mitigating the evils of that destructive insect. A Committee 

 was appointed accordingly, who, having given the subject 

 their most deliberate attention, delivered in a report, which 

 is already on its way to the colony ; and we have good reason 

 to hope that even in this early instance the Entomological 



