INTRODUCTION 21 



labour the scientific agriculturist, the horticulturist, the 

 economic zoologist, the medical bacteriologist, who should 

 command the respect of even the practical-minded man 

 but the biologist in whatever field, however restricted it 

 may be, whether he is working towards the understanding 

 of broad principles and general laws, or whether in some 

 narrow corner of research he is accumulating material 

 which will help ultimately to lead to wider understandings 

 all are working helpfully and practically towards the 

 perfect well-being of the human race." 



To the theories, the actualities, and the discoveries 

 enumerated in this book the author makes no claim what- 

 ever. The work is the work of others, and has seen the 

 light of day only, for the most part, in the scientific journals 

 of Europe and America : here, for the first time, an attempt 

 has been made to compile, in non-technical language, a con- 

 cise summary of the varied relations of insects and man. 

 A vast amount of literature has been consulted of necessity, 

 and, as far as possible, every publication to which reference 

 has been made is included in the bibliography at the end 

 of the book. Details of anatomy, which are of interest 

 only to the systematist, have been eschewed, as also have 

 purely medical questions, except in so far as they concern 

 the entomologist. In a book of this nature, despite every 

 care, errors are liable to creep in unawares, and sins of 

 omission are bound to occur : for these the reader's pardon 

 is craved. 



Before embarking on a consideration of the thousand 

 and one ways in which the activities of man and insects 

 harmonise, to their mutual benefit, or result in a war to 

 the death for supremacy, it may be well to consider, for a 

 moment, exactly what position insects occupy in the animal 

 kingdom, and, having done so, to give a brief rdsumd of the 

 various orders of insects dealt with in the ensuing pages. 

 The animal kingdom as a whole is divided into two great 

 divisions Vertebrates and Invertebrates. In the former 



