STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 283 



These are a few of the subjects th.it present themselves to the stu- 

 dent of entomology without* going into details or into the realm of 

 pure science. Entomology as a distinct subject of study, as a science, 

 is what I will especially call your attention to this evening. 



SCIENCE OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



Not many centuries ago it was considered to be below the dignity 

 of man to occupy himself with such trifling things as insects, and if 

 anyone in spite of this dared to pursue the study his soundness of mind 

 was liable to be questioned. Since that time we have learned to be- 

 come a little more liberal. The general opinion is no longer openly 

 against the subject, and we are all willing to concede its importance. 

 But this is as far as we have advanced, and back of this there is yet 

 a general indifference. It is still in the hands of a few. 



But the work is ever advancing, and the time is dawning when this 

 study will no longer be in the hands of a few, but the property of the 

 people; and when we will have not only learned to know and concede 

 the importance of the subject, but will have learned to feel its im- 

 portance and give it that aid and sympathy which it requires to reach 

 its full growth. Then, and only then, can we receive the full benefit 

 that is to be derived from it as a science. 



How is this indifference to be removed, and how are our people to 

 be made to feel the importance of the subject? To this I would say 

 there is but one sure and proper way, and that is to educate our peo- 

 ple up to it. This is the way in which we have acquired all the knowl- 

 edge that we do possess, and must acquire what still remains to be 

 added. 



The sciences take their birth, no man knows where, somewhere in 

 the depth of the human soul. Their growth is commonly slovv, they 

 develop in the hands of the few, and often in the most humble and 

 insignificant habitations. For years man is ignorant even of their 

 existence, but as time rolls on the time will come when they can no 

 longer be concealed, and we begin to comprehend that a new star has 

 made its appearance on the firmament of human knowledge. Its 

 lights may at first be faint and indistinct, but as it comes nearer it 

 grows brighter, and as it is the pride of our nation to add another 

 star to its banner on the admission of a new state, so will also this 

 star be put down on the chart and admitted into the temples of hu- 

 man knowledge, from where it will cast its light over the people of 

 the land. 



Now entomology is such a science. It is commonly not recognized 



