Xo. 625] SHORTER ARTICLES AND DISCUSSION 



287 



"blue with pink spots." Agiain two species of scale insects 

 are separated by the fact tliat one has the median lobes of the 

 pyg-idium rounded while the other has the median lobes conical 

 (external characters). Yet one lives on oak trees and luis at 

 least four generations annually and the other lives on maple trees 

 and has only a single generation annually. Now if "X" thinks 

 that these f^cts wx>uld have been discovered as easily and as 

 quickly as they have been discovered, if Professor Comstock had 

 not pointed out these "trivial characters" some thirty-odd years 

 ago, he thinks differently than I think. Yet the application of 

 these facts is of vast importance to the horticulturalist and land- 

 scape architect or any other arti^in who works to l)eautify our 

 landscapes with trees, or any one who atteniiiits to control these 



I have no doubt that Linmeus was accused of relying on 

 trivial characters for separating some of his genera and species. 

 It would be interesting if history could tell us and it would be 

 still more interesting if we could look into the future, say 100 

 years, and see what sj-stematists and others will say about the 

 present-day systeiiiatists who overlooked such perfectly obvious 

 characters as the extra spines on the liind leg of species "a" as 

 contrasted with "b" and their wonder and amazement that 

 systematists of this our irlorious twentieth century should have 

 overlooked su.-li iiii|)(»i-t<uit and obvious characters. So it will 

 be in other lidds. Th.' histMh irist of the future will wonder why 

 we used such ci-u.h' killini^' ami fixing agents; and will, more 

 than likely, refer to our hnest precision microtomes with a 

 shrug much as we reft>r to the stono hatchets of the men of the 

 Old Stone Age. 



I make this somew^hat extended plea becaus<» it .seems to me 

 that "X" has unconsciously done the systenuitists a great 

 WTong.- ''X's" attitude may dis<.'Ourae-e promising young men 

 from entering the field of systematics where their help is greatly 

 needed. Let us therefore lay aside our critical air and our 



