CHAP, ix.] ANNUAL REPORTS 63 



tion ; this being, wherever possible, followed by some para- 

 graphs or pages of " Methods of Prevention and Remedy." 



In matters of phraseology, selection of the very plainest 

 and shortest words that I could choose was part of my 

 plan, and after the first few years I exchanged the short 

 table of contents for a plain working index. 



Illustration always appeared to me a very important part 

 of the work, so that readers might start with the knowledge 

 of the appearance of the insects under consideration, gained 

 by a glance at the accompanying figure, without having 

 the trouble of trying to form a kind of "mind picture" 

 from the descriptions given, often very unlike the true 

 object. 1 At first in the small beginning the numbers 

 needed were also small, and I think the little stock of figure 

 blocks with which I started, and for which I was indebted 

 to the kind courtesy of a friend, amounted to one dozen ! 

 This matter, however, I set right as soon as possible by the 

 purchase from Messrs. Blackie & Sons, of Glasgow, of 

 electros of most of the beautiful wood engravings given in 

 Curtis's "Farm Insects," under an agreement that the 

 accommodation was granted on condition of my using the 

 figures only in my own publications. Some of the illustra- 

 tions I drew myself on the blocks, and as time went on, and 

 infestations, little or not at all entered on before, required illus- 

 tration, I engaged the valuable assistance of two brothers, 2 

 which was continued thenceforward throughout the work. 

 It appears to me that it is hardly possible to exceed the 

 beauty of their work, whether in characteristic representa- 

 tion or in precise and accurate details. I have had great 

 pleasure in the entomological approval which has been 

 bestowed upon it. Illustrations from other sources have of 

 course been used, always, so far as I am aware, most care- 

 fully acknowledged ; and so far as has been in my power, I 

 have endeavoured that the illustration of each infestation 

 should show the insect (where it was possible to do so) 

 in each of its successive stages of life, as of the caterpillar or 

 maggot (scientifically the larva] ; the chrysalis (pupa) ; and 

 the perfect insect, butterfly, beetle, sawfly, &c., as the 

 case might be. This matter is of great importance agricul- 

 turally, for how else (it may be asked) in common circum- 

 stances, excepting by a good, plain illustration, is a farmer 



1 This consideration induced the Editor to introduce many figures of 

 insects into the chapters of correspondence in the present volume. 



2 Messrs. Horace Knight and E. C. Knight, of the staff of Messrs 

 West, Newman & Co., 54, Hatton Garden, London. 



