1899] BNTOMOLOGICAL. NEWS. tl5. 



he reaches man's estate, he has by that time learned of other 

 great collections in the East which he longs to see. 



Our magazines sometimes contain articles describing visits 

 to the great collections of insects in Europe, but I fail to re- 

 member a single description of America's collections. Only 

 two years ago a friend, whose collection I was viewing, said : 

 ^' I was down East last summer and visited all the collections ;" 

 yet, to my sorrow, that was about all that he said about 

 them, and he, like the rest, kept to himself all that he had 

 seen — and we must excuse him, for he is a very busy man. 

 Bj' the way, is it generally known that nearly all of the great 

 collections of insects in America to-day have been made by 

 men who were very busy — men who earned their '^ bread 

 and butter ' ' in some way not connected with entomology, or 

 by a few fortunate mortals born with enough of this world's 

 goods to need to give no attention to " bread and butter," but 

 so interested in entomology that their time was devoted to it 

 with no other remuneration than the pleasure it afforded? 



These reflections are not written in the spirit of one who 

 knows all about the great collections, but with the feeling that 

 something has been gained which should be passed on and 

 with a fervent wish to help the less fortunate. 



Were any one to ask me to-day, ^' Where is the greatest 

 collection of Lepidoptera in America? " I should be compelled 

 to say, "I don't know." At least three times in the past 

 have I gained access to a great collection and the owner has 

 said, '^ You now stand in the presence of the greatest collec- 

 tion of Lepidoptera in America," or words to that effect. I 

 have never disputed the statement, but I dare not tell where 

 these collections are ; for I have a feeling that at least half a 

 dozen others would rise in wrath and say to those who make 

 such claims — words unsuitable to reproduce here. You can 

 sympathize with such pride in one's collection ; for where is 

 the cabinet, even of the tyro, that does not contain specimens 

 which he would not exchange for gold or others ? 



To return to the story. Last July found me in the company 

 of thousands of pedagogues roaming the streets of '^ the City of 

 Magnificent Distances." Even as some men approach Niagara 

 Falls, with both desire to see and reluctance to have realized, 

 or as the moth approaches the flame in ever narrowing circles, 



