Economic Entomology . 
[April, 
308 
IV. ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY.* 
f O Science is so generally slighted, ignored, and mis- 
understood as is Entomology. Hysterical humani- 
tarians, novelists, poets, political agitators, classical 
students, speak in terms of contempt or horror of the “ fly- 
hunter.” Pope exclaims sneeringly-— 
“ 0 ! could the sons of men once think their eyes 
And reason given them but to study flies.” 
Mr. Ruskin, in his “ Fors Clavigera ” (Letter 53, pp. 138, 
139), writes, certainly not in a lucid moment, — “ The instinct 
for the study of the lower forms of undeveloped creatures is 
the precise counterpart of the forms of idolatry (expressed 
in the worship of unclean beasts) which were in great part 
the cause of final corruption in ancient mythology and 
morals.” Ebenezer Elliott satirises the working-class na- 
turalist who busies himself with examining butterflies and 
beetles rather than with the speeches and writings of dema- 
gogues. At a recent Exhibition a noble lord, pausing before 
a case of Lepidoptera, expressed a regret that Entomology 
could not be pursued in a more humane manner. 
Such being the state of general ignorance concerning 
inserts and their study, it is time that the eyes of the public 
should be opened as to the importance of the subject. 
Strange as it may sound, animals are capable of affecting 
man’s interest and destiny for good or evil, almost inversely 
as their size. We nowhere find that the presence or absence 
of any large or individually formidable beast has occasioned 
famine and pestilence in any region of the globe. But who 
does not know that both these scourges have been again and 
again brought on by an inroad of locusts ? On the other 
hand, it is equally clear, though less widely known, that the 
absence of certain species of inserts may render the intro- 
duction of valuable crops impossible, or at least unremu- 
nerative, in countries where the soil and climate are in every 
respeCt suitable. Without humble-bees we cannot have, 
e.g., clover, or scarlet-runners. 
But in cases where inseCt depredators do not bring on ab- 
solute famine, they commonly levy a severe tax upon the 
* Manual of Injurious Inse&s, and Methods of Prevention. By Eleanor 
A. Ormerod, London : W. Swan Sonnenschein and Allen. 
