ing the maturity of the insects by depriving them of their food before they were able to 

 fly to a distance for it. Mr. Denton reported that the Chinch bug had been observed in 

 the Township of Delaware, near London, and that it was likely to become very injurious 

 if measures were not taken to counteract it. The meeting adjourned at 5.30 p.m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



In the evening the Society held a public meeting in the Council Chamber of the City 

 Hall at 8 o'clock, at which there were about sixty persons present, including the Hon. C. 

 Drury, the recently appointed Minister of Agriculture for Ontario ; Mr. John Lowe, 

 Deputy Minister of Agriculture for the Dominion of Canada ; Professor Saunders, 

 Director of the Experimental Farms of the Dominion; Sir James Grant, M.D.; Mr. R. 

 B. Whyte, President of the Ottawa Field Naturalist's Club ; Mrs. Macleod Stewart, 

 Mrs. Davidson and a number of farmers and gardeners from the city and neighbourhood. 



The proceedings of the evening began with an able and practical address from the- 

 President, Mr. James Fletcher, of Ottawa, upon " Insects Injurious to Crops." 



THE PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is with feelings of undisguised pleasure that the 

 Council of the Entomological Society of Ontario welcome you to this evening's meeting. 

 The time has been when such a gathering would have been impossible. The appreciation 

 of the study of entomology as a practical branch of economic science, has only sprung up 

 within the last few years, and this too in response to great and incessant efforts on the 

 part of a few naturalists to make their work useful, by specially studying those species 

 of insects which were found to attack products of economic value, with the set purpose 

 of discovering remedies to lessen or prevent the loss thereby sustained. It is gratifying 

 to know that foremost amongst these practical men of science have been many of our 

 North American entomologists. The names of Harris, Fitch, Walsh, Glover and Riley 

 in the United States, and in Canada Saunders and Bethune, are names never to be for- 

 gotten in this connection for the work they have" accomplished in the past, by patient, 

 persistent labour, to distribute amongst cultivators intelligible knowledge which would 

 enable them to meet and frustrate the attacks of their insect foes. It is a somewhat 

 remarkable fact that until the last decade, comparatively few of the many students who 

 have enjoyed the charms of the delightful study of entomology have turned their attention 

 to this practical aspect of the case. In England, our dear mother-country, this want was 

 even more marked, and until quite lately there were only two or three names which 

 stood out prominently as having done conspicuous work in this line, such as Curtis, 

 Kirby and Spence, and lastly, most important of all, our corresponding member, Miss 

 Eleanor A. Ormerod, whose reports upon Injurious Insects and Methods of Prevention 

 are now known the world over. Indeed, so great was the contempt in which these 

 studies were at one time held that we are told by Kirby and Spence, in their classical 

 treatise, that in the last century the will of a noble lady was actually set aside as that of 

 an imbecile, upon the sole evidence that she had been known to collect and study 

 insects. These ages of darkness and ignorance, however, have happily passed away, and 

 to-day not only do the intelligent farmers, horticulturists and fruit-growers recognise the 

 value of these studies, but every person of common sense appreciates the fact that by 

 their means the revenue of every country may be largely increased, by giving methods 

 of protecting all agricultural products from the large diminution attributable to the 

 attacks of noxious insects. The Governments of many countries have recognised this, 

 and employ their own State Entomologists, or appoint committees to carry on these 

 investigations. In many American colleges they form part of the curriculum of studies. 

 Within the last year in Ontario I am delighted to tell you they have been added to the 

 course of instruction at the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph. It is but natural that 



