( Ixviii ) 



we have scarcely ceased to mourn, that we owe that useful 

 and laborious work, the Munich Catalogue of Coleoptera. 



I propose to oocupy your attention during the remainder 

 of the time at our disposal this evening by some remarks on 

 entomological collections. 



In addressing an audience composed entirely of entomo- 

 logists it is perhaps superfluous that I should enlarge on the 

 value to society of these objects of our attention. We are 

 fortunate in possessing a taste denied at present, it would 

 appear, to the majority of mankind : we like to see insects, 

 and admire their beauty, or be astonished at their wonderful 

 diversity and the variations in the details of their structure, 

 and this taste amply justifies to ourselves the formation of 

 collections of the creatures we admire. But the Entomo- 

 logical Society of London, being the chief organisation of the 

 kind existing in Her Majesty's dominions, is, or ought to be, 

 recognised as an institution of public value ; moreover, the 

 sequel of my Address requires that I should not altogether 

 ignore this point, and I shall therefore make some brief 

 observations on it. The subject, however, is of such 

 importance and extent that I cannot deal adequately with it ; 

 to do so would require literary and philosophical powers far 

 beyond those I can bring to it, and far more time than is at 

 our disposal this evening. 



Without collections there could be no extensive discussion 

 of entomological questions, no combination of investigations ; 

 they render possible the establishment of a nomenclature 

 common to the men of science of different nations, and thus 

 questions are discussed and conclusions established with the 

 force derived from the fact that they have been subject to 

 the criticisms of instructed men in all parts of the world. 



Collections are standards of reference for nomenclature, 

 and without a generally accepted set of names the extension 

 and diffusion of knowledge to any considerable extent would 

 be impossible. The saying, " Nomina si nescis perit et 

 coguitio rerum," is perfectly true when applied to mankind 

 generally, though it is not quite true in the case of a single 

 individual. 



