17 



only the gum lac, but a beautiful dye. There is also the 

 cochineal insect and the Spanish fly, or Cantharides beetle, so 

 useful to the medical profession. 



On the other hand, as I remarked before, we have a great 

 many insect enemies ; for instance, the celery and turnip flies, 

 the corn weevils, the phylloxera, or vine pest, and any number 

 of aphides, or plant-lice, as they are designated. Altogether 

 the poor agriculturist has rather a hard time of it in dealing 

 with so many foes. Some farmers (or rather game-keepers) 

 consider the entomologist one of their enemies ; whereas 

 they ought, really, to place him amongst their friends, and 

 encourage him to visit their preserves. If we do disturb 

 some of the game occasionally, and break off a few twigs in 

 beating for larvae, we compensate them for it, in the number 

 of insects we capture, and whose ravages we thus lessen. 



I think I have said sufficient to show that the study of 

 Entomology is not such a trivial affair as some would have us 

 believe. I should not have so strongly advocated the cause 

 before you had this been entirely an Entomological Society, 

 concluding, of course, that the members would know all about 

 it ; but as there are some amongst us who have not made this 

 branch of science their special study, I hope by these few 

 remarks to induce them to take it up scientifically. This 

 must be my apology for troubling you at such length. 



During this year the science has lost, through death, five of 

 its most earnest devotees. The first on the obituary list is 

 Mr. Buckler of Emsworth, Hants. He made the larvae his 

 special study, and collected notes and figures of about 850 

 species. The drawings are about to be published by the 

 Ray Society ; and as we have lately become subscribers to 

 that Society our library will ere long include a copy of them. 



We also have to deplore the death of Sir Sidney Smith 

 Saunders, one of the only two original members of the En- 

 tomological Society of London. He was a thorough all- 

 round entomologist, and having travelled a great deal in his 

 official capacity was well conversant with ex< tic, as well as 

 British Entomology. 



