184 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, ’o8 
Doings of Societies. 
The Brooklyn Entomological Society met January 9th, sev- 
enteen members being present. Of the old officers, President 
J. L. Zabriskie, and Recording Secretary, G. P. Engelhardt, 
declined re-election. The following new officers were elected 
unanimously : 
President, R. F. Pearsall; Vice President, E. L. Graef; 
Treasurer, C. H. Roberts; Recording Secretary, R. P. Dow; 
Corresponding Secretary, A. C. Weeks; Librarian, J. J. Levi- 
son; Curator, Geo. Franck; Delegate to the New York Acad- 
emy of Sciences, John B. Smith; Field Committee, appointed 
by the Chair, | 
Mr. Weeks read a paper upon “The Economic Value of 
the Vespertilionide (Insectivorous Bats)” with suggestions as 
to their preservation and propagation, and gave a summary 
of his observations upon a large colony of these creatures 
which were domiciled in the roof of his summer residence on 
Long Island last year, together with his opinion that as de- 
stroyers of noxious insects they were superior to the whip- 
poorwill and nighthawk, and the several species of owls and 
nocturnal animals and reptiles. Nothing could be said to their 
prejudice, while moreover they were free from the faults of 
many partially insectivorous birds, in that they did no injury 
to poultry or other useful birds, fruit or vegetation. They 
were practically on the alert throughout each night during 
the insect season and by hibernation or emigration during the 
cold period required no artificial care. Bats are able to cap- 
ture many species of injurious moths which in both the larval 
and mature stages are so well concealed during the day that 
they cannot then be readily taken. Several methods of con- 
structing artificial shelters for refuge to bats and their propa- 
gation were suggested to take the place of natural hiding 
places in hollow trees which were now rapidly disappearing, 
with a recommendation that bats be protected by law and that 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture, through the co-opera- 
tion of its Divisions of Biology and Entomology cause a for- 
