100 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 11 
Mr. J. L. King: I think every entomologist is especially interested 
in the present war and is willing to give his service in any branch which 
will be of aid to his country. After arriving in Pennsylvania, I found 
that the young men in the house where I was staying had enlisted in 
various branches of the military service which were along the lines of 
their particular training, and I therefore decided to make application. 
I wrote to Dr. Howard in order to find out whether there was any 
opportunity for service in the army along entomological lines. As 
there did not appear to be any openings, I made application in the 
sanitary service, but was informed that there were no openings there. 
What I would like to ask is, How are the services of the entomologists 
to be utilized in connection with camp sanitation? It seems almost 
impossible to enter the service at the present time. 
Mr. E. D. Ball: I would like to ask Dr. Felt whether there has 
been any movement made in this direction. 
Mr. E. P. Felt: At the time when it began to be apparent that 
the United States might be involved in the war, the speaker wrote one 
or two editorials in favor of having an entomologist attached to every 
large army unit and he is still of the opinion that such is highly advis¬ 
able. It may be true that our economic entomologists are largely 
trained in handling agricultural insects, but I think every man who has 
had any experience whatsoever on insect work would be willing to back 
such a man against one who has not had such experience. That is 
his life work and with his intimate knowledge of insects, he is placed 
in a far better position than anyone else to forecast possibilities, to see 
the danger points and to adapt treatment to the conditions. I am of 
the opinion that there must be a great amount of this kind of work done 
in army camps before we get the most satisfactory solution of the 
insect problem. Work of this kind must be taken up in advance of 
pressing needs or disaster may result. We must not wait, as many 
farmers have done, until the crop is nearly destroyed, before taking 
action. Life is too valuable, the stake too large to warrant this. 
Mr. E. D. Ball: Dr. Felt’s position is conservative. The man 
who has had actual field work in handling any insect pest is much better 
prepared to immediately take up the field end of the problem of insect 
control than any man approaching it from the medical, sanitation or 
engineering standpoint. The latter may be perfectly trained in their 
professions, but their knowledge of insects and their behavior is very 
limited. The great function of the entomologist should be to size up 
the situation in the field and devise suitable remedies to meet each con¬ 
dition that arises. The secret of the success of the American entomolo¬ 
gist has been that he is resourceful in dealing with the problems that 
are placed before him. 
