113 
by the Boston Heliotype and Printing Company. The plates in Hyatt 
and Arms’ little book on insects (forming one of the series entitled 
“Guides for Science Teaching,” published by D. C. Heath & Co.), while 
not always handsome, are clear and bold, never leaving one in doubt 
as to what the draftsman intended. 
But the economic entomologist often requires something more than 
outlines and I have yet to learn of the cheap process which gives him the 
result in shaded figures showing patterns of coloration, sculpturing, and 
the like, that he should get. Certainly we have nothing in this line as 
good as first-rate woodcuts. 
The process figures of our station bulletins do not average high. 
Some are decidedly bad. It is sometimes, of course, the result of poor 
drawing and printing, but more often, I think, of imperfections in the 
methods of reproducing them. It is sometimes evident that very good 
drawing has resulted in extremely bad printed figures. 
Some of our best results in process figures are to be seen in the reports 
of the Agricultural Department at Washington and in INSECT LIFE. 
For mere beauty some of this work surpasses most wood cuts, yet it 
can not be considered entirely satisfactory, for reasons suggested 
above. 
This much can be said for the cheap process figures, that they give 
promise of something better in the near future. It is very probable 
that within the next twenty years the processes will be so far perfected 
that they will yield as good results in every respect as the wood 
engraver now gives us. If it were not for the hopeful outlook in this 
direction the entomologist might well return at once to wood engrav- 
ing. What I wish more especially to urge here is that we can not 
afford to rest satisfied with present achievement. The block-maker is 
sometimes inclined to give us work that might pass for transient liter- 
ature, but should not be accepted for publication by a naturalist. By 
existing methods he can often do much better than he does. The nat- 
uralist should not be satisfied with careless work. It falls upon him 
to urge, by every means in his power, the improvement in process 
figures. His drawings should be made with extreme care, and, if nec- 
essary, adapted to the process employed in reproducing them. One 
very serious difficulty in the way of getting the most from our cheap 
processes is the unwillingness of the average draftsman to accom- 
modate his drawing to the requirements of the process. When urged 
to make his drawings larger and his contrasts sharper, he sometimes 
replies that the block-maker should follow him, not he the block-maker. 
In other words, the inclinations and convenience of the artist should 
be considered before those of the mere maker of plates. No doubt the 
work of the draftsman is of prime importance whatever the process by 
which his work is rendered. But the fact remains that he can not get 
the best final results if he does not sometimes put aside some of his 
notions about high art and draw for the process. Looking at it from 
