452 ^ THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



mind in brief form. Then the newspaper is reached ; then public senti- 

 ment is enlightened and moulded, and its reflection compels science teach- 

 ing in the schools. 



He did not mean to suggest that any paper ever read before this body 

 was not prepared in readable English. He hoped no discourtesy to this 

 body or any member of it would appear in any word or suggestion he 

 should make. But he meant to say that an essay or scientific paper read 

 before the Academy might be forever locked up within the !lids of a state 

 report — never to reach the people for their instruction. Or such pajiers, 

 prepared for scientific ears only, may not be prepared for the comjDrehen- 

 sion of the unscientific newspaper readers, or it may be too lengthy for 

 admission into the newsj)aper columns. 



He referred to essays which had been read by Prof. Eiley, Prof. Snow 

 and others, containing unanswerable arguments in support of science teach- 

 ing in the common schools, but which had been little read by the public. 

 Such essays should be cut up into newspaper proportions and got before the 

 people. 



He spoke of the evidences manifested in many ways of the growing de- 

 mand on the part of the people for scientific information, and attributed it 

 largely to the work of the Academy, notwithstanding little direct effort had 

 been made to popularize such information. How much more, then, might 

 be done with well-devised effort. 



He moved that a committee be appointed to take action on the subject. 

 Profs. Snow, Mudge. Kedzie and others favored the motion, and it was 

 ^adopted. The committee was appointed as follows: Judge F. G-. Adams, 

 Prof. B. F. M;udge and Prof. F. H. Snow. 



Prof F. H. Snow, of the State University, read a paper on the insect Ayn- 

 bly child cylindriformis. He said the subject was perhaps of greater interest 

 to entomologists than to the general public. It related to the discovery of 

 an insect in Western Kansas which has previously been exceedingly rare 

 and in great demand among collectors at from $12 to $20 per specimen. 

 Several hundreds of these insects have been taken during the past season 

 by the Kansas University exj)edition, in charge of Prof Snow, and by the 

 Yale College expedition, under S. W. Wiliiston. The insect is a beetle (or- 

 der coleoptera) and is very interesting in its habits. It is not to be found by 

 daylight, but must be hunted after sundown and before sunrise. It is car- 

 nivorous in its nature, living exclusively upon other insects. In confine- 

 ment it makes itself useful by devouring maple-worms, grasshoj^pers, and 

 other pests of the orchard and garden. The discover}^ of this species in 

 such numbers has created considerable excitement among the entomologists 

 of both America and Europe, who arc now seeking to supply their cabinets 

 with this hitherto rarest and costliest of insects. 



Prof. J. D. Parker, of Kansas City, filed a paper on the subject of the 

 Eiver Bluffs, which had been already published in the transactions of the 

 Academy. 



