PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
། ། ། ། ། ། umimmimi C.O. 885
23 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
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that the six States should be jointly represented by one of their Agents-General; It is but replies have not yet been received from South and Western Australia. understood that the Commonwealth Government are asking Mr. F. V. Theobald to represent them, and that the New Zealand Government have selected Mr. E. E. Austen.
As requested by the Committee at our last meeting, I had an interview with Sir Sydney Olivier before he left to attend the Conference of the International Institute of Agriculture at Rome, and explained to him the general objects of our Bureau and also the desire of the Committee for practical co-operation with the Institute. He did not appear to think, however, that any matters affecting the work of this Bureau were likely to come up for discussion.
The work in connection with the "Review of Applied Entomology" is pro- gressing very satisfactorily, and the material available for publication is steadily increasing, more especially on the agricultural side. For the first three months the parts of Series A contained 32 pages. From April the number was increased to 40, and it seems probable that after September the part will have to be enlarged to 48 pages. This is principally due to the fact that more literature is becoming avail- able owing to the steadily increasing number of our exchanges. These now total 148, as compared with 75 reported for last quarter, and the following table shows the countries from which they are received:--
United States
Great Britain
38 15
Algeria and Tunis
2
Holland
France
13
Philippines
2
Italy
13
India
2
Germany
12
South America
Russia
12
Denmark
1
Canada
6
Portugal
1
Belgium
5
Switzerland
1
Austria-Hungary
5
Ceylon
1
West Indies
3
Malay States
1
Spain
3
Japan
1
Sweden
Dutch Indies
3 3
South Africa
1
Many of these are journals which have not been previously accessible in this country. In certain cases we have received more or less complete sets of back numbers, so that there are already some 80 volumes which need to be bound. Some of the publications received will not be worth binding, and it is proposed in such cases merely to cut out the parts which are of use to us and to paste them into suitable
books.
The total number of periodicals examined for the purposes of the "Review" is 841 (approximately 2,200 separate parts), up to June, 1913, and a list of these will be published at the end of the year. The number of articles abstracted or reviewed during the first six months is 385, published in the following countries:—
United States of America
Great Britain
France
Germany
East Indies
British Africa
Canada
Holland and Belgium
Italy
Australasia
...
98 68
India and Ceylon
10
West Indies
10
56
Central and South America...
8
21
Russia
в
19
French Africa
4
19
Spain
16
German East Africa...
3
15
Egypt
2
14
Austria
1
11
Cyprus
1
The fact that the same entomological observations are frequently reproduced in several different journals has been so apt to lead to a needless repetition of the abstracts that it has been found necessary to compile an index to each part of the
• Review as soon as it is published. This indexing is being done very fully and occupies one typist for four to five days every month. At the present rate, the index for the first volume will contain 20,000 items, and even allowing 33 per cent. for condensation this would mean 120 pages of print. The compilation and the printing of 2,000 copies is estimated to cost about £50. This should prove a record of great practical value.
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We have found it impossible to arrange exchanges with a certain number of European journals which contain useful articles dealing with agricultural ento- mology, and the German forestry journals in particular are poorly represented. The Finance Sub-Committee has, therefore, been asked to sanction an annual expen- diture of £50 for subscriptions to such periodicals.
With regard to the insertion of advertisements in the "Review," Dr. Gordon Hewitt, while agreeing that there was no real objection to advertising other ento- mological publications, is still of opinion that it would be preferable to avoid such a course; if possible. As it has been found that it would not be worth while to print the only two advertisements offered at present, the matter has been left in abeyance.
With regard to the payment for translations from Russian, the basis now adopted is 4s. for a foolscap page of MS. (about 400 words). The MS. is generally condensed to a considerable extent, and in the case of the four abstracts published in the June number the cost worked out at 7s. 6d. per printed page.
The identification section of our work is still almost entirely confined to collec- tions from tropical Africa and the West Indies. Close on 20,000 specimens were received during the quarter from different correspondents; among these were 2,600 biting flies, 750 ticks, and about 1,000 insects of more or less importance to agriculture.
In addition to numerous sets of named insects returned to correspondents, large collections of African ticks, all named by Prof. Nuttall and Mr. Warburton, have been issued to the following institutions :-London and Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine, the Royal Veterinary College, Camden Town, and the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Aberdeen; while 22,000 non-economic insects have been handed over to the British Museum.
Arrangements are now being made with Mr. W. F. Fiske, one of the most capable entomologists in the service of the United States Bureau of Entomology, to carry out, under the direction of the Royal Society, and at the expense of the Government of Nyasaland, a thorough investigation of the bionomics of Glossina morsitans in Nyasaland. At the last meeting of the Tropical Diseases Committee of the Royal Society Mr. Read put forward a suggestion, which was approved by the Committee, that one of our Carnegie scholars might be sent out to work under Mr. Fiske instead of going to the States, for this would give him an excellent oppor- tunity of learning, by practical field work, the best American methods of handling a difficult and complex entomological problem. Should this proposal commend itself to this Committee, it would be necessary to obtain Mr. Carnegie's permission to utilise a portion of his grant in this way.
A statement is appended showing the receipts and expenditure for the last quarter, and it may be estimated, merely approximately, that on its present footing our organisation will not cost more than £4,200 a year, our guaranteed revenue being £4,925, without taking into consideration any contribution from India. But it must be borne in mind that the proposal for compiling a comprehensive card- index of injurious insects has not yet been properly started, there being at present only a single assistant engaged upon this work, whereas we require at least two or three if satisfactory progress is to be made. Further, with any marked increase in the demand for the identification of insects, another purely entomological assistant will certainly be required. The cash balance on the 30th June was £4,185, of which £3,500 is on deposit at call at 34 per cent.
Mr. Simpson will have arrived in England from the Gold Coast on the 18th July, having now completed his tour of all the West African Colonies and Protec- torates. His engagement with the Bureau terminates at the end of this year, as does that of Mr. Neave, and the question of his future work will have to be con- sidered, if he is reappointed. Mr. Neave is still in Nyasaland, where, owing to various adverse circumstances, he has not been able to make much progress in working out the life-histories of Tabanidae. In view of the more pressing import- ance of the various Glossina problems, it may be well to consider the advisability of requesting our travelling entomologists to concentrate their attention upon these insects only.
It will be remembered that at our last meeting Dr. Shipley was asked to represent this Bureau at the Jubilee Meeting of the Ontario Entomological Society. Unfortunately, he is now unable to attend, and Dr. R. Stewart MacDougall has kindly offered to take his place.
25 July, 1913.
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