( cxiii ) 



Of the other Fellows who have died, I wish I were able 

 from personal knowledge to say at least a few fitting words. 

 But unfortunately my acquaintance with them was so slight 

 that I should be unable to say more than I could gather from 

 the Obituary Notices which are accessible to all in the 

 Entomological Journals. 



At one of our Annual Meetings, the President of the year 

 reminded us that he was not required under any bye-law to 

 deliver a Presidential Address, but he delivered it all the same, 

 and an excellent one it was. If you expect me to continue 

 now and to follow his good example I fear you will be dis- 

 appointed. A good Presidential Address, such as you have 

 been accustomed to hear at these annual meetings, needs a 

 good deal of preparation and a lot more besides, even if one 

 happen to make choice of an interesting subject. The subject, 

 or rather the mixture of subjects, on which I propose to speak, 

 is, however, not so nuich a matter of my own choice, as of 

 being compelled to it by the necessities of the case. For I 

 have to admit that so far as preparation is concerned, you 

 may have reason to think that I have been rather neglectful 

 of my duty to you, and the only excuse I can offer, which I 

 trust you will accept, is that, although my intentions were 

 of the best, I have been quite unable to find the time that was 

 needful to fulfil them. 



When Mr. Bethune-Baker, in his Presidential Address de- 

 livered three years ago, suggested a subject for investigation 

 which, he said, would be of the utmost importance to science, 

 I had a strong inclination at the time to try and act upon it. 

 It appealed to me as a Coleopterist. An investigation of the 

 male genital organs of beetles would, I thought, be of the 

 greatest interest, especially if one could go on to compare them 

 with those of other insects with a view to homologizing the 

 parts. But an investigation of that kind requires time, 

 certainly much more than has been at my disposal from that 

 day to this; and in consequence I have had to abandon the 

 idea. It is, however, a work that should employ many hands, 

 notwithstanding that Sharp and Muir in their invaluable 

 memoir which appeared in our Transactions for 1912 have 



VROC. ENT. SOC. LONL>., V. 1917 H 



