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Annexure 1 to No. 80.
QUARTERLY REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE IMPERIAL BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY. Although the Imperial Bureau of Entomology has now been established for a complete financial year, it has by no means yet reached the full development of its contemplated functions. The building up of such an organisation must necessarily be gradual, and during this first year, apart from carrying on the work already in While undoubtedly progress, attention has been mainly directed towards the establishment of the "Review of Applied Entomology" upon a satisfactory basis. there are still certain deficiencies, it may yet be contended that this publication now gives a fairly complete summary of the literature relating to economic entomology, and complimentary recognition of its practical value to field-workers continues to be received from many quarters.
As regards the identification of insects, the scope of our work is gradually extending, and it seems likely that the calls upon our services will increase materi- ally in the near future; but, apart from the Stegomyia survey, no special effort has been made to develop this branch. If there is any considerable increase in the material to be dealt with, we are likely to be faced with difficulties in regard to the accommodation of our entomological staff in the British Museum. Even as it is, the Museum authorities have been put to some inconvenience in their desire to afford working facilities to our assistants, and the present congestion in the Insect Room indicates the necessity for making some immediate provision for future expansion, otherwise the work of both the Museum and the Bureau is likely to be seriously hampered before very long. It is to be hoped that the Committee may see their way to make representations to the proper authorities urging them to give prompt The last of the three principal lines of work originally consideration to the matter. contemplated, namely, the compilation of the lists of insect pests of plants in each of our Colonies, and the preparation of a reference card-index, is only on the point of being started. It is hoped that the room which has kindly been placed at our disposal by the Museum authorities for this purpose will be available_some time in May.
Review of Applied Entomology.-The monthly output in this periodical is being maintained at 90 to 100 pages, and it is probable that the matter available for publication will increase rather than diminish, with a consequent increasing loss on the production. At present the sum received from sales is about £30 less than the mere cost of distribution, and the net cost of printing alone for the current year is estimated at £400. In its present form the gross outlay on the production of the Review" (1,500 copies monthly) is about £1,650, without allowing anything for editorial supervision, so that the total cost might fairly be placed at £2,000 a
year.
The total number of both series now distributed amounts to 887; of these, the contributing Dominions and Colonies receive 425 (A. and B.); exchanges and free list, 303 A. and B., 19 A. only; and subscribers, 127 A. and B., 13 A. only, 31 B. only.
The delay in producing the index for the first volume is much regretted, for, apart from other considerations, it is urgently needed for the use of various members of our own staff. Owing to the condensed character of the abstracts the number of references is necessarily very great, and as it was impracticable to super- vise their selection, in the first instance, it was thought advisable that very full references should be taken out, and these could be sorted afterwards. Thus some 40.000 slips were typed, and the cutting out, arranging, and pasting of these, with the subsequent revision and condensation, are only now nearing completion. Further delay has been caused by the obvious need for revising many of the scientific and popular names, for it has been found in numerous instances that the same species has been dealt with by different authors under two, or even three, different names, owing to the present somewhat chaotic state of scientific nomenclature. It was clearly important that all the references should be collected under one name, with appropriate cross-references, and this has often necessitated a tedious investi- gation of synonomy. While it has been impossible to do this throughout, it has been done in those groups for which a recent standard catalogue was available to serve as a basis. The compilation of future indices will in consequence be a much more simple matter.
87
Bulletin of Entomological Research.-In Appendix IV. a statement is given showing the detailed cost of Volume IV. of the "Bulletin," with a net loss of £241. Unfortunately the circulation does not show any improvement, though there is a satisfactory increase in the sale of separate parts. The number of subscriptions received through our publishers is 210, those from Tropical African Governments 85, but the latter copies will in future be supplied free; the separate parts sold amounted to 352. The index for this volume is now in the printer's hands, and it is hoped that it may be issued by the end of May.
Identification of Insects.-The influx of material continues unabated, having been unusually large during the past quarter, during which 32,000 specimens were received, of which 9,500 were blood-sucking insects or ticks. The large total of blood-suckers is mainly due to the very fine collection of Hong Kong mosquitoes sent in by Dr. H. Macfarlane, in connexion with the stegomyia survey.
The total receipts for the year amounted to 109,000 specimens, including 25,000 blood-suckers. In all, 256 separate consignments were received from 90 different *correspondents, who were distributed as follows:-Africa 75, West Indies and South America 8, Asia 5, and Australasia 2. The lists issued amounted to 268, containing 5,219 specific names, and were sent to the following countries :-Union of South Africa 16, Rhodesia 10, Nyasaland 35, British East Africa and Zanzibar 44, Uganda 32, Nigeria 36, Gold Coast 34, Sierra Leone 15, Gambia 2, Egypt and Sudan 10, British Somaliland 1, Portuguese Africa 5, India 2, Ceylon 6, Federated Malay States 1, Hong Kong 3, Fiji I, North Australia 3, Imperial Department Agriculture, British West Indies, 8, British Guiana 12, Barbados 1, Trinidad 1, Colombia 1.
In addition to the large number of named specimens sent out to contributors, named collections of blood-sucking flies or ticks have been presented to the follow- ing Institutions: The Universities of Aberdeen, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Manchester, and Oxford; Birmingham Natural History and Philosophical Society; Bedford College for Women; King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Madras; Liverpool and London Schools of Tropical Medicine; and the Royal Veterinary College, Camden Town; while to the British Museum were presented 1,500 blood-sucking flies and ticks of special scientific interest, 600 insects of agri- cultural importance, and over 86,000 general insects, including a number of types of new species.
Stegomyia Survey. But little progress has been made in this direction, for as yet no collections have been received from foreign Possessions in the Far East. In addition to the valuable series of mosquitoes from Hong Kong mentioned above, Dr. A. T. Stanton has kindly sent material from the Federated Malay States and Indo-China, and a collection has been received recently from Fiji.
Finance. An idea as to the general financial position of the Bureau may be gathered from the various appendices attached to this report, which comprise a balance sheet (I.); a statement showing the actual cash expended and received during the year (II.); a statement of our available assets and liabilities at the end of the year (III.), showing a total balance in hand of £1,949, of which £1,000 is specially earmarked for expenditure in Tropical Africa; and finally, an estimate of the recurrent expenditure for next year, which will have to be met out of our income of £5,475 (V.).
After some correspondence and discussion the Treasury have now agreed that the moneys of the African Research Committee and the Imperial Bureau of Entomo- logy may be treated as one fund, provided that a note is appended to the account showing the amount of contributions received from the West African Colonies or from the Colonial Office on behalf of the East African Protectorates, and of the salaries and expenses of Investigators in Africa.
ago,
Staff Mr. S. A. Neave, who was appointed as Assistant Director some time has recently arrived from Africa, and, after the expiry of the leave that is due to him, will formally take up his duties on the 1st June. Dr. Spurrell, who was selected to succeed Mr. Neave for the purpose of carrying on Glossina work in East Africa, has not yet arrived in this country from South America. Mr. J. J. Simpson left England in February for the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, where he will investigate various problems in connexion with Glossina.
As regards the London Staff, Mr. W. North is in charge of the Elvaston Place Office, and the success of our " Review " is mainly due to his continued energy and
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