40 



were frequently recorded from localities iu which they never occurred, 

 but were so labeled because the owner or collector hai)pened to be 

 there. 



Mr. Hoi3kins said that his system had been modified and improved 

 since it was first announced at the Madison meeting; that he was more 

 than ever con^dnced of the imx)ortance of some well-planned and con- 

 venient system, varied according to the special needs and requirements 

 of the individual collector or investigator, by which the necessary col- 

 lecting notes and original observations may be permanently recorded, 

 so that they will be available and intelligible as long as the specimens 

 and notes may exist. 



The records which he considers as absolutely necessary to accom- 

 pany all specimens are, exact locality, date, collector's name, and if any 

 further notes are made on food habits, life history, descri^Dtions, etc., 

 an unduplicated number (for the species of any given accession cata- 

 logue or set of notes) should always accomi3any the si^ecimens. He 

 said that locality and date labels with collector's name are all right and 

 all that are necessary simply for collected material, but all biological 

 material, and that on which special observations are noted in a book 

 or on a card, should, in order to be of permanent value, bear a number 

 referring directly to a corresponding number of the entrj' in the book 

 or on the card. To avoid the large numbers which would result from 

 many years of active work, he has adopted a subcharacter or subnumber, 

 or both, to distinguish the many species which may come under the 

 head of one general note; as, for examjDle, the insects collected from 

 a dead pine tree, accession No. 7775 would refer to the general note, 

 while the separate si^ecies and their relation to each other and to the 

 treesmay be designated by the addition of a letter to the number (777oc/), 

 which may be extended, as required, from a to z, and still further 



extended by double letters, or better by ?• % % 'J- ^^ o^ etc.. to 



designate several species found on different i^arts of the tree, or also 

 the parasites and other natural enemies associated with a given enemy 

 of the plant. 



With this system it is not necessary to identify the species in the 

 field, since the individual number will enable it to be identified at any 

 future time or bj' a specialist, and the name subsequently entered 

 with colored ink in the original note. 



He stated that it seemed to him that the permanent usefulness and 

 advancement of economic entomology depended, to a great extent, on 

 accurate and full field notes systCDiatically recorded, so that they will 

 be most available for the individual worker, his assistants, and 

 successors. 



Mr. Caudell said that a system almost exactly like that here pro- 

 posed by Mr. Ball Avas introduced some two years ago by a writer in 

 the Journal of Applied Microscopy' and Laboratory Methods, Volume 

 n, page 449 (1899). The scheme was recommended for all kinds of 



