(1128 General Notes, 
ENTOMOLOGY. 
On THE METHODS OF EXPERIMENTS IN ECONOMIC . ENTOMO- 
LOGY.’ —The establishment by the United States Government of an 
agricultural experiment station in connection.with each of the state 
-Agricultural Colleges has resulted in a great increase of attention 
~to experiments in economic entomology. This increased attention 
: has brought clearly to light the inadequacy of the methods com- 
‘monly employed in experiments in this field. In fact the state of 
-entomological science is such that he who wishes to conduct careful 
- experiments, except in a few simple lines, is first forced to develop 
the methods of investigation. 
Although there are many entomologists engaged in research, and 
„although the literature of the subject is a vast one, more than a 
‘score of journals being exclusively devoted to this specialty, com- 
paratively little is done in the study of the transformations and 
: habits of insects, or in making practical applications of entomology. 
With the exception of a few government entomologists, the ener- 
-gies of the workers in this field are almost entirely devoted to the 
description of species. And although a few workers have achieved 
: very important results in the study of the habits of insects, and in 
- making practical applications of the facts observed, they have done 
this with very crude apparatus, and often by methods which cannot 
-be relied upon to give exact results. While magnificently equip 
laboratories of physiology and histology are springing up at all of 
‘the scientific centres, the student of the habits of insects contents 
himself with a few breeding cages scarcely better than those used — 
< by Réaumur a century and a half ago. aan. 
- ‘An illustration of the imperfection of the methods commonly 
-employed is the fact that experiments with insecticides are usually 
__, conducted only in the field, where the conditions cannot be con- 
‘trolled. I have before me a report of an experiment made to test 
‘the efficiency of a certain substance as an insecticide. ‘The insects 
_ experimented upon were root-feeding larve. A careful examina- 
-tion of the field made at the close of the experiment revealed five 
_ times as many larve upon the roots of the plants treated with the 
supposed insecticide as there were upon an equal number of plants 
_ that had not been treated. It is evident that the application had 
‘no effect as an insecticide. But would this conclusion have been — 
so evident had the Experimenter happened to have treated the — 
trang ent is edited by Professor J. H. Comstock, Cornell — | 
Meson Ithaca, N. Y., to whom communications, books for notice, — 
, Should be sent. 
cg dm m the advance sheets of the Report of the Cornell Univer 
` +2 Partly fro : 
Ca Experiment Station for 1888. pee 
