700 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



destructor Say, were so general and so severe as to inflict 

 enormous damages, they having been estimated by competent 

 parties as high as $3,000,000. A very serious matter has been 

 the discovery that the notorious gipsy moth, Porthetria 

 d i s p a r Linn., has become well established in the city of Provi- 

 dence R. I. Investigations made during the summer show that 

 the pest already occupies a considerable area in and about that 

 city. While this spread has not been directly toward New York 

 state, it may well be regarded as a warning of what may occur 

 within a few years, and residents of the state are advised to keep 

 a sharp lookout for the advent of this very destructive insect. 



Office work. There has been no relaxation in the pressure of 

 office work, and, though there has been an apparent decrease in 

 the amount of correspondence, all of the office staff have been 

 obliged to work overtime in order to meet the demands of the 

 situation. The determination of scale insects for the state 

 department of agriculture still makes considerable inroads on 

 our time. Most of this important and very difficult work has 

 fallen on my first assistant, Miss Boynton. On the request of 

 the commissioner of agriculture, made necessary by the position 

 of the state entomologist of Virginia, who refused to accept any 

 certificate unless it was vouched for by an official entomologist, 

 a general statement was issued approving the work of his in- 

 spectors. The time of the office force has been occupied to a 

 considerable extent by the reading of proof and verification 

 incident to the carrying through the press of two very important 

 bulletins soon to be issued, one on the important scale insects 

 of the state and the other on aquatic insects of the Adirondack 

 region. A number of excellent lantern slides have been pur- 

 chased, and some made from original photographs. These form 

 a nucleus of what will soon become an excellent collection for 

 use in illustrated lectures. The new cards for recording acces- 

 sions to the entomologic collections have proved very satisfac- 

 tory, resulting in a great saving of time. 954 letters, 295 postals 

 and 693 packages were sent through the mails during the year. 



