THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



203 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



On the 22d of February, 1850, some liftceii 

 persons met at No. 728 Erie street, Fliihulelpliia, 

 for the ostensible purpose of fouDding an Ento- 

 mological Society, and during the remainder of 

 that year, they met regularly for mutual im- 

 provement in Entomological knowledge, for tlie 

 exhibition of specimens and for the formation 

 of private collections. After a hospitable accom- 

 modation of two years and a half in the room 

 of Mr. Chas. Wilt, 1310 South street, the Society 

 moved to (he hall which it now occupies, No. 

 618 South 13th street, which was built for 1 lie 

 Society's use, by Mr. Jas. Ridings, and aftbrded 

 at a moderate rent. On the lOtli of April, 18G2, 

 (he Society was chartered by tlie Legislature, 

 as the "Entomological Society of Philadelphia,"' 

 but on the lull of March, 1807, tliis title was 

 changed to the ''American Entomological So- 

 ciety." This change was a wise one, as the pre- 

 vious name conveyed the erroneous idea tl\at the 

 institution was local, whereas it had ever relied 

 on the country at large for support, and liad ac- 

 quired an essentially national cliaracter and a 

 world-wide reputation as tlie only Society of 

 the kind in America. 



The seven volumes of tlic Proceedings which 

 liave been published contain an immense amount 

 of useful information, and Americans may well 

 be proud of tlie typograpliy of these volumes 

 and of the scientific value of tlieir contents. In 

 October, 180.'), (he Society commenced the pub- 

 lication of a little monthly bulletin entitled the 

 rractical Entomoloyht ; a journal which dis- 

 seminated over tlie country a vast amount of 

 valuable information of a practical nature, and 

 which was suspended after an existence of two 

 years, principally on account of tlie liberality of 

 its publishers in charging but a most tiivial and 

 unpaying sid)scription price. Tliis li((Ie monthly 

 was solely edited the second year by (he Senior 

 Editor (and was really the forerunner) of (he 

 American Entomologist. But it is not our 

 pui-pose, nor is it necessary to state to our scien- 

 tific readers all that this Society has accom- 

 jilished. It has been the means of stimulating 

 research in this most interesting and fascin.ating 

 department of science ; of recording many of 

 the secrets contained in that book wliicli is 

 " printed, imaged, collated and bound by the 

 Jiugers of Omnipotence," and of tlius adding to 

 our font of true knowledge. It has in fact 

 given American Entomologists a standing which 

 they never before held in the eyes of the world. 



We recently learned, tlierefore, witli mnch 

 regret, that the Secretary and Curator, Mr. Ezra 



T. Crosson, had been obliged to secure another 

 situation in consequence of the fiiilure to raise 

 the required amount to liire his services. In our 

 minds the success of the Society hitherto has 

 depended, in a very great measure, on tlie effi- 

 cient and indefatigable efforts of this gentleman, 

 and that it requires tlie constant services of one 

 person to attend to the large correspondence, to 

 the publication of the proceedings, and to prop- 

 erly care for and preserve the large collections — 

 needs no argument. Tlie Society has a publi- 

 cation fund of !ii>ll,000, which was generously 

 donated by the late Thomas B. Wilson, and 

 which cannot be used for anytliing but tlie pub- 

 lication of the proceedings. It has also a gen- 

 eral fund of $5,000, the income from which about 

 pays tlic general expenses, such as light, fuel, 

 rent, etc., etc. But lliere is nothing secured ibr 

 a Curator. During the life of Mr. Wilson, lic 

 most generously paid for the services of the 

 Curator, but since that time the amount has 

 been annually raised by subscription. People 

 grow tired of subscribing so often iiowevcr, and 

 the finance committee failed to raise (he I'pquisilo 

 amount (lie present year. 



Will the eiitoinologis(s of this vast count r\ 

 stand by and see this national collection go to 

 ruin and the Society degenerate, orwill they put 

 their shoulders to the wheel and rescue it from its 

 present strait? If a Permanent Fund of $15,000 

 or $-'0,000 could be raised for the Curator, the 

 Society would forever be independent, and re" 

 licvcd of the unpleasant necessity of demanding 

 annual subscriptions. Are there not 000 or 400 

 persons in Nortli America, who would each sub- 

 scribe, once for all, (lie sum of .'f!50; or perhaps 

 150 or 200 who would each subscribe $100? ]t 

 seems to us there must be, and we would siig" 

 gest the formation of a committee of five or 

 seven of our most wealthy and influential ento- 

 mologists, to take charge of the matter. If such 

 gentlemen as Coleman T. Robinson, Baron R. 

 Osten Sacken, Dr. J. L. LeConte, Wm. II. Ed- 

 wards, Edward Norton, Samuel II. Scudder, 

 and Dr. II. Ilageii were to lend their influence, 

 and if the proper steps were taken at some 

 future meeting of tlie Society, we doubt not but 

 the desired end could be accomplished ! 



ly As some of our exchaiigbS may wish (o 

 illustrate any article they may copy from the 

 American Entomolooist, we have decided to 

 furnish electrotypes of our wood cuts, at one- 

 half the cost of engraving ; these electrotypes to 

 be retained by the parties receiving them, if 

 tliev desire it. 



