BY L. A. BERNAYS, ESQ., F.L.S., ETC. 15 
that it would be a transaction worthy of the objects of the 
“Royal Society of Queensland” if the Council were to address 
itself to the enrichment of its book-shelves by getting together 
a library of reference upon this important subject. I have noted 
with much satisfaction that, in our transactions hitherto, a good 
deal of the eminently practical has found its way into our 
records. It is possible that this has arisen from the fact that, in 
the comparatively small community in which we are com- 
mencing our work, there are not sufficient specialists in science 
to provide material for all the meetings of the Society. But if 
this circumstance leads us into admitting to an important place in 
our recorded transactions, papers of a wholly practical, or only 
partly scientific character, it will, I think, popularise the insti- 
tution and much enlarge its sphere of usefulness. 
Applications made through the Government, or other in- 
fluential sources which may suggest themselves to the Council, 
to the authorities of the various British Possessions, would bring 
together, at little cost, the publications extant upon the insect 
enemies of many crops which are specialities in different 
countries, and which can be grown in this colony; while similar 
influences might procure much which has been written in French 
and German upon entomology in its application to industrial 
pursuits. 
To the United States of America, however, we must turn for 
the soundest and most practical information extant in the 
English language upon the insect enemies of plants and the best 
remedies against their injurious effects. The enlightenment 
of the Government of the States has taught them that the wel- 
fare of that great country largely depends upon the successful 
cultivation of the soil; and in no country of the world are agri- 
culture and horticulture more thoroughly systematised or 
receive better recognition from the State. The importance of 
the bearing of insect life upon the numerous cultural industries 
in America is so fully recognised by the Government as to have 
