208 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [June, '05 



and these conditions would readily account for its subsequent 

 rarity in certain years. As to the future effect of any particu- 

 lar storm or extreme in temperature it would be necessary to 

 know the extent of development of each insect and the stage 

 through which it was passing at the time to be able to predict 

 with any degree of certainty upon its resultant abundance or 

 rarity. 



Messrs. Smith, Roberts, Wasmuth, Engelhardt and Doll 

 gave instances in support of the above theory. 



January^, 1905. — Twenty-two persons present, the President 

 in the chair. Mr. John Lewis Childs, of Floral Park, L. I., and 

 Mr. William C. Wood, of 51 Fifth Ave., New York City, were 

 elected members. The following officers were elected for the 

 ensuing year : Jeremiah L. Zabriskie, President ; Edward Iv. 

 Graef, Vice-President ; Christopher H. Roberts, Treasurer ; 

 Richard F. Pearsall, Librarian ; George Franck, Curator ; 

 Archibald C. Weeks, Secretary. John B. Smith and Carl 

 Schaffer, members of Executive Committee in conjunction 

 with above-named officers. 



At the suggestion of a delegation from Mr. Bischoff, of the 

 Newark Entomological Society, Messrs. Smith, Franck and 

 Schaffer were appointed a committee to arrange for a joint 

 meeting on July 4th of the Philadelphia, Newark, New York 

 and Brooklyn Societies. 



Prof. Smith briefly reviewed the salient changes in entomo- 

 logical effort which had occurred during the pa.st thirty years. 

 At first when there was so much material which was compara- 

 tively new and undescribed, considerable attention was devoted 

 to collecting and field work. Then followed systems of classi- 

 fication and studies in anatomy, physiology, histology and 

 oecology and attempts at regulation of nomenclature ; but 

 experience had shown that the most effective work was that of 

 the collector and observer of life histories and in these lines 

 there had been a renewal of interest, not only in the verifica- 

 tion of species and varieties, but in the details of insect exi.st- 

 ence, to our knowledge of which even the most indifferent 

 worker is often able to contribute observations of value. 



Archibald C. Weeks, Secretary. 



