104 
bearing directly upon the agricultural interests of the United States.” 
Therefore it is necessary, in the exercise of our complicated duties as 
station entomologists, that we confine our attention especially to the 
discovery of new facts relating to the insects of the State or Territory 
in which we are located, and that we not only take many notes and 
make numerous records and references, but we should keep the valu- 
able material thus gained according to some well-defined plan, in order 
that any portion or all of such information may be readily accessible in 
case it should be required for immediate publication or answer to 
inquiry. 
In laying the foundation for entomological work at the West Virginia 
Experiment Station I have given special attention to this feature of 
the organization, and have worked out and adopted a system which 
has proved to be well adapted to the requirements of the character of 
the work in which I am engaged. 
The system consists of an accessions catalogue and a species cata- 
logue. These two catalogues contain or refer to all available informa- 
tion on identified and undetermined material in the collections, to all 
investigations, experiments, and observations, and to certain desirable 
literature relating to the identified species. 
THE ACCESSIONS CATALOGUE. 
This consists of a series of note pads or books, each containing 100 
numbered spaces, in which entries are made referring to all numbered 
accessions to the collections, insectary or laboratory, also to numbered 
experiments, etc. The leaves of this pad are divided into spaces as 
shown in the following diagram, which is one-half the size of the 
pads I have used: 
The spaces in the central portion are for localities, dates, names of | 
accessions, numbers, and notes as indicated. The perforated trans- 
verse margin at the right is for detachable number and label slips, 
while the first transverse space at the lett is for check-list numbers, 
names of species, and authority for identifications. The next space to 
the left is for name of host plant or insect. 4 
