Entomological Society. 4225 



actual collector ; to the man who, in whatever station of life, devotes 

 his time, by night and by day ; at all seasons, in all weathers ; at home 

 and abroad, to the positive capture and preservation of those speci- 

 mens which serve as the objects for all our observations: he is the 

 real labourer in the field, and if we would keep the lamp of our science 

 constantly burning, it is to him alone that we can look for fuel to feed 

 its flame. 



With regard to collectors at home, I will only say, without mention- 

 ing names, that many members of our own Society have displayed 

 more zeal and greater industry than would have sufficed for the accu- 

 mulation of almost boundless wealth, and yet the only object they 

 have sought has been the acquisition of treasure for the mind; the 

 only reward they have desired, the satisfaction of possessing that 

 which is rare or beautiful. I must also allude, if but for a moment, 

 to the advantages derived from the labours of still another class, 

 those who, led by an instinctive taste to the pursuit of Entomology, 

 have rendered that taste subservient to pecuniary gain ; I allude to 

 such men as Bouchard, Weaver, Standish, Harding, and Foxcroft: 

 how often have these made truly valuable contributions to our stock 

 of knowledge ! And is it not this result alone that, in fairness, we 

 can consider ? Such men do great, permanent and continual good : 

 they render our science an unquestionable service, and their motives 

 are no more to be called in question than those of the artist or the 

 author, who receives the just reward of his well-directed labours. 



The results of collecting in Britain, during each successive year, 

 appear almost incredible ; and, when we recollect the indefatigable 

 zeal of those who have preceded us, it seems surprising that so much 

 should be done. Our English collectors seem to have found in Scot- 

 land comparatively a virgin soil as regards Entomology, and a soil, I 

 may add, of incomparable richness. 



From British collectors the transition is easy to others, who, inspired 

 by a like taste, led on by an insatiable thirst for a more intimate acquain- 

 tance with Nature in her grandest phases and forms, have left their 

 homes, have abandoned their prospects of worldly welfare, and have 

 sought, in warmer climes, those glorious creatures which our chilly 

 regions cannot produce. Your late Secretary, once my most be- 

 loved and intimate friend, was one of these ; and it has always been 

 my belief, that while assiduously collecting in the Floridas, he laid 

 the foundation of that painful and lingering disease which finally de- 

 prived our science of one of its brightest ornaments. Another loss, 

 (truly to be lamented, but of a very different character, is that we have 



