PREFACE 



It is now ten years since the death of the veteran 

 entomologist — the most distinguished of all students of 

 Insect systematics — who was the first occupant of the 

 Hope Chair of Zoology. At the end of a period which 

 must form a considerable fraction of the active life of 

 any man, it is appropriate that I should lay before the 

 University and those who desire to promote scientific 

 research in our land, a brief statement of the work which 

 has been done and of hopes for the future. 



The two main lines of work which are suggested by 

 the presence of the Hope Collection in Oxford, were 

 clearly explained to the electors to the vacant chair by 

 the late Professor Huxley. 



'There are two courses open,' he wrote, on Jan. 15, 

 1893, 'for either of which there is a good deal to be 

 said. It may be considered that the chief business of 

 the Professor is to be an efficient Curator of the great 

 collection of Insects under his charge, to sort it out 

 into so-called species, and catalogue them in such a 

 manner that the Collection' may be made as available 

 and useful as possible to systematists and students of 

 Geographical Distribution. . . . The other course is to 

 elect a Professor, . . . who will use the Collection as 

 a means to the elucidation of the larger problems which 

 now press upon us. This is the alternative which would 



