84 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Vol. XV 



EDITORIAL. 

 THE OLD BULLETIN. 



Recently we went over the first seven volumes of this Bul- 

 letin. What a difference! The typography, especially of the 

 early volumes, was most fancy. Somebody did it artistically in 

 archaic style. 



But the contents ! That is another matter. This Bulletin 

 was then truly representative of the Society; those that published 

 in it wrote out of the fulness of their hearts. Even their one 

 and two line notes have strength and character. They wrote 

 simply of the things they saw, sometimes with ingenuous and un- 

 practiced hand, revealing their lack of the scholastic attainments 

 of their successors. But the eager, sincere spirit of investigators 

 was there and their writings have the same tense appeal now that 

 they had then. They were pioneers, and they set their souls into 

 clearing the way for those that came after. Their simple words 

 inspire. 



Yet, they were practical, and these first seven volumes bear 

 witness to this. What they wrote was to be of use to their fel- 

 lows and not merely a cold accretion to the sum total of human 

 knowledge. Helpfulness was their keynote, and it dominated all 

 they did. That is why it shall live with their memories long after 

 it has ceased to serve the practical purpose for which it was 

 meant. 



Every memher of the Society contributed at one time or 

 another, and the Bulletin was the Society. 



We, their successors, may well follow their guidance to our 

 own profit. 



J. R. T. B. 



HEW TO THE LINE, LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY. 



Entomology among ourselves, in these great and glorious 

 United States, seems to partake of the character of a mutual ad- 

 miration society. There are, of course, a few daring — and un- 

 popular — spirits who utter once in a while the discordant and 

 raucous note of dissidence to disturb the close harmony of the 

 chorus of general praise for everybody's work. A prominent 



