THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
.39 
respondents last year with re>jard to En- 
tomological Examinations, that, as you 
have re-opened the subject, I wish to 
offer a few remarks upon it. If the Ex- 
amination is intended simply as an in- 
ducement to young collectors to be in- 
dustrious in the pursuit and accurate in 
their knowledge, it is comparatively im- 
material how it is conducted, for it will 
be only of ephemeral interest ; hut if it is 
intended to he of permanent value, — if it 
is meant to convey the impression that 
the person passing it really possesses some 
fair amount of entomological knowledge, 
it must be severe, and severe to an ex- 
tent to which, if I mistake not, very few 
of those who welcomed the idea will be 
disposed to agree. It will be perfectly 
absurd to have an Examination which 
may be “crammed for” in three weeks. 
As regards age, I do not think any 
limit can be fixed. Knowledge, and 
knowledge alone, must be the test ; for 
Entomology is no recognized part of 
education ; it is not a thing which any- 
body is expected to know, or even has 
the opportunity of knowing; and so any 
limitation as to age would, in all proba- 
bility, exclude all those who are most 
likely to benefit by the Examination. 
I may form too low an estimate of the 
entomological knowledge now in the 
country, but my opinion is that there are 
not fifty people in Great Britain who 
could pass an Examination in Ento- 
mology, — presenting more difficulty than 
a paper requiring an enumeration of the 
principal Latin and Greek authors, di- 
vided into prose, poetry, the drama, and 
a knowledge of 'Horace’s Odes would 
present to a student of the Classics. 
How many of your readers could 
answer satisfactorily such a paper as 
this ? — 
Define an insect. 
Show how it differs from Spiders, Eii- 
tomostraca, Entozoa and Annelides. 
Name the different orders into which 
insects are divided, and describe 
three of them accurately. 
Give some notice of the different 
modes of classification that hav'e 
been adopted, mentioning particu- 
larly what parts of the insect each 
classifier thought most important or 
most persistent. 
It is a common notion that if men and 
animals could jump in the same 
proportion as grasshoppers and fleas 
they would be able to clear houses 
and hills without difficult)’. Ex- 
amine this idea, and give your 
opinion as to its truth or falsity. 
Or to one who had “ taken in” Lepi- 
doptera : — 
Define a Lepidopteron. 
Mention and describe some insects 
which resemble Lepidoptera, and 
some Lepidoptera which resemble 
other insects, and point out the 
difference. 
Mention any peculiarities connected 
with Slenopteryx hybridalis. 
Describe the genus (say Cabera) so as 
to separate it from all others. 
Describe each species in it, with egg, 
larva, pupa, food-plant, time of ap- 
pearance, and habit ; also the syno- 
nymy, with the names of the prin- 
cipal authors who have described it, 
and the date of their works. 
Give the place of the genus Fumea in 
the scheme of classification adopted 
by Doubleday, Guenee, Stainton and 
Stephens ; and the reasons for each. 
Will any say these would be too 
severe? I do not think they would be 
half severe enough. In what other 
branch of human learning would so 
slight an Examination be deemed suffi- 
cient? The truth is that Entomology is 
still in embryo, and the amount of 
general knowledge on the subject is 
nil ; and it seems to me that if a system 
of Examination is started which shall 
