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No. 88.
MINUTES OF THE TWENTY-NINTH GENERAL MEETING OF THE OF MANAGING COMMITTEE OF THE IMPERIAL BUREAU ENTOMOLOGY, held at the Colonial Office on the 22nd of May, 1919, at 3.0 P.M.
Present:
VISCOUNT HARCOURT (Chairman). SIR DAVID PRAIN.
COLONEL ALCOCK.
MR. SCOTг.
PROFESSOR POULTON.
SIR JOHN MCCALL.
DR. HARMER.
PROFESSOR NUTTALL.
MAJOR AUSTEN.
SIR DAVID BRUCE.
Dr. Bagshawe.
PROFESSOR THEOBALD.
SIR D. MORRIS.
DR. MARSHALL,
DR. NEAVE.
MR. DOWNIE (Acting as Secretary).
1. The minutes of the Twenty-eighth Meeting* were confirmed.
2. The Committee considered the Director's Annual Report.† Dr. Marshall gave a short summary of the report, and referred to the anticipated deficit on the year's working, which was due partly to increase in the cost of stationery and printing, and partly to the cost of the war bonus which had been granted to the staff.
3. Dr. Harmer then reported on the recent meeting of the Finance Sub- Committee‡. The Committee approved of the proposal that war bonus at the increased rate recently laid down by the Treasury for the Home Civil Service. should be paid to the staff of the Bureau, with effect from the 1st of April. They also approved the proposal that Mr. Waterston should be required to refund to the Bureau only £300 of the £400 which he had saved during his period of military Bervice. They were unable to approve the grant of war bonus on the West African scale to Mr. J. J. Simpson, late Entomological Expert in West Africa. Committee considered that the deficit of approximately £800 which was anticipated on the year's working might reasonably be met from the balance of the Bureau Fund, which amounted to over £2,500, pending consideration of the general financial position at the Conference which was to meet in the near future.
The
4. Dr. Marshall mentioned that Professor Nuttall had suggested certain changes in the method of preparing the Review, which should perhaps be con- sidered by the General Committee before the details were discussed by the Publications Sub-Committee.
Professor Nuttall stated his proposals, which were that, signed abstracts should be made by experts in the particular subject under review, and that the system of employing permanent reviewers should be discontinued as far as possible. Ho suggested that this would result in a great improvement in the quality of the He reviews, some of which were at present admirable but others unsatisfactory. urged that if the Bureau could conduct its work on these lines it would be of great assistance in educating the young entomologists of the United Kingdom. He added that a reduction in the number of permanent reviewers would result in economy. Dr. Marshall stated that he sympathized with Professor Nuttall's idea to a great extent, but that there were great difficulties in the way of the proposal, which He pointed would upset the whole of the existing organization of the Bureau. out that the Bureau only professed to give an abstract of what is published, whether the views of the author were sound or not, and that no personal expression
‡ No. 87.
* No. 85.
↑ Annexure to these minutes.
219
of opinion was contained in the abstracts. He remarked that, except from Pro- fessor Nuttall he had received no complaints whatever with regard to the quality of the various articles. In fact, criticism from other quarters had been extremely favourable. He did not consider that Professor Nuttall's proposal would lead to economy, as the Bureau could hardly afford to pay enough to obtain expert reviewers for each subject.
Professor Poulton stated that it was extremely undesirable to disturb the existing machinery of the Bureau. He pointed out that for Professor Nuttall's proposal it would be necessary to obtain an expert with a knowledge of the language and also a knowledge of the subject matter, and that it was extremely difficult to obtain a man with both these qualifications. Further, the arrangements pro- posed by Professor Nuttall would cause considerable delay, as experts were busy men; and, owing to the wide general knowledge of entomology which Dr. Marshall and Dr. Neave possessed, between them they were able without undue delay to deal with any technical difficulties that might be encountered by the abstractors working directly under their supervision. Thus the Review of Applied Entom- ology covered a large amount of ground in a short time, and to this its success had been largely due.
After further discussion the Committee agreed that this matter should be referred to the Publications Sub-Committee for report.
At this point Viscount Harcourt withdrew on other business, and the chair was taken by Sir D. Prain.
5. The Committee then discussed Mr. Fiske's Report* on his Glossina investigations in Uganda. Sir David Bruce explained that Mr. Fiske was anxious that the repopulation of the shores and islands of Lake Victoria should be com- menced as soon as possible. He stated that, when the native population was removed in 1906, the chiefs were given to understand that this was temporary measure. The depopulated territory was fertile and valuable, and it was most desirable that the people should be allowed to return as soon as this could be done with reasonable safety.
a very
Dr. Bagshawe pointed out that, in spite of the provisions of the Sleeping Sickness Ordinance, a large number of natives had already returned to these districts, and that no harm had resulted.
Professor Nuttall urged that every encouragement should be given to Mr. Fiske to carry out his proposals. Professor Poulton supported this view. Mr. Fiske was then admitted, and, on behalf of the Committee, the Chairman expressed appreciation of his recent researches and the hope that his proposals for future work would meet with every success.
6. Dr. Marshall read a letter which he had received from the Commonwealth Advisory Council of Science and Industry, with reference to the introduction into Australia of insects for the destruction of the weed Hypericum perforatum. In this letter it was explained that the Quarantine Department of Australia besi- tated to sanction the introduction of weed-killing insects, as there was a consider- able body of opposition amongst scientific agriculturists in the Commonwealth. In the circumstances the Advisory Council of Science and Industry had decided to put the whole question before the Imperial Bureau of Entomology for their advice. Dr. Marshall read a letter from Dr. McDougall, who considered that the introduction of weed-killing insects was dangerous.
Sir J. McCall stated that the Commonwealth Government desired to be on the safe side in this matter.
The Committee decided that a special Sub-Committee should be formed under the direction of Professor Poulton, consisting of Dr. Marshall, Professor New- stead, Professor Theobald, Mr. Fryer, and Major Austen, to consider and advise on the three questions submitted by the Commonwealth Advisory Council, namely: (a) The wisdom of the policy of introducing insects for the eradication
of weed pests.
-
(b) The nature of the experiments that should be made with such insects
before they are liberated.
(c) The points raised in (a) and (b), with special reference to insects required
for combating Hypericum and Opuntia.
* No. 86.
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Dr. Marshall stated that he had received a request from Professor Graham Kerr, of Glasgow University, for a free issue of the publications of the Bureau. Professor Nuttall expressed the opinion that institutions that require the Review should purchase it. The Committee agreed that Professor Graham Kerr's request must be refused.
Professor Nuttall also raised the question of increasing the price of the Review. The Committee decided that this point should be considered by the Publications Sub-Committee.
The Committee adjourned at 4.50 p.m.
29136
Annexure.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE IMPERIAL BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY.
In view of the termination of all our current Government grants on the 31st March, 1919, and in accordance with the recommendation made by this Committee at its last meeting, the Secretary of State for the Colonies issued a circular despatch to all the contributing Governments suggesting that they should renew their respective grants for a further period of five years. At the time of writing replies have not yet been received from the Australian Commonwealth, New Zealand, New South Wales, the Gold Coast, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Egypt, and the Sudan. The remaining Governments have agreed to renew their grants, with the exception of Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. In every instance the renewal is for five years, except in the case of the Imperial Treasury and Canada, who have specified a term of three years. The reduction in the period of the grant by the Canadian Government was due to the assumption that, in accordance with the arrangements proposed in 1914, a conference of Official Entomologists would be held as soon as possible for the purpose of considering, among other matters, the establishment of the Bureau on a permanent basis.
The annual balance sheet will be found in Appendix I., in which, with the exception of the items Carnegie Fund, Crown Agents, and Petty Cash, the sums given indicate our total expenditure and receipts since September, 1909.
Appendix II. shows the actual receipts and disbursements during the past financial year, but the amounts appearing against the two publications bear no relation to the real expenditure, owing to the fact that the Stationery Office accounts are rather more than a year in arrears, and the cost of printing and paper has risen enormously during the past twelve months. From quotations recently supplied by the Stationery Office it is calculated that the Review has cost about three times as much to produce as compared with 1914, and the Bulletin rather more than double. As a result of this, together with the increased war bonuses granted to the staff, the real expenditure probably amounted to £500 in excess of the estimate of £4,307, thus more than absorbing the anticipated surplus of £414.
In Appendix III. will be found a statement of the cash in hand or receivable on the 31st March, together with an estimate of our outstanding liabilities on that date. From this it will be seen that we start the new financial year with an estimated surplus of £2,560, or £80 less than in the previous year.
The last Appendix contains an estimate of the probable receipts and expendi- ture for the forthcoming financial year, framed on the assumption that the work of the Bureau is to continue on its present basis. It will be observed that this will result in a probable deficit of nearly £200. The main factor responsible for this unsatisfactory condition is the great increase in the cost of producing our two periodicals, but especially the Review. The estimated deficit on these is £450 more than the amount shown in last year's estimate. In arriving at this figure it is assumed that the charge for printing recently quoted by the Stationery Office will remain the same, but that paper, instead of being treble the 1914 price, will average out at about double. Again, there is an increase of £300 in the estimate for salaries as compared with last year; this is due partly to the increased war bonus that was granted last year and partly to the fact that the men who have returned from the Army will be receiving higher pay than when they were away; on the other hand, a saving is being effected in that one of our youths is leaving us and is not being replaced, and we are no longer employing Mr. Hermer, our Russiar. translator.
221
With regard to the Government grants, it has been provisionally assumed that the Dominions and Colonies that have not yet replied will not withhold their up- port. A reduction of £110 has been allowed in respect of the three Australian States that have withdrawn; while, on the other hand, it is satisfactory to be able to announce that Newfoundland has voluntarily increased its contribution from £5 to £25.
The Committee is, perhaps, aware that as from the 1st April the Treasury have granted to all members of the Civil Service, established and unestablished, a considerable increase in their war bonuses. If the same rates were made applicable to the staff of the Bureau the increases would range from thirty per cent. to ninety- five per cent. on the normal salary, and the total sum would be about double the The Finance Sub-Committee is, therefore, being amount now expended in bonuses. asked to look into the whole question, and will report to the Committee upon it.
Staff Captain Waterston did not return from Macedonia until early in April, and will resume his duties in the beginning of May. Two junior assistants, H. E. Box and L. B. Wyatt, returned from the Army in January and February, respectively; the former is, however, leaving of his own accord at the end of May and will not be replaced. Nothing has been heard regarding C. J. Golledge, our Library Assistant, who was applied for six months ago.
Dr. Hugh Scott, who has been doing half-time work with us since October, 1917, terminated this arrangement at the end of December last. Besides reorgan- izing the whole system of compiling our Catalogue of Plant Pests and supervising the work of Miss Ralfs and Mrs. Darling, he has himself extracted the required information from all the scientific and agricultural journals published in South Africa, and has compiled a complete list of the insect pests known from that area, This list has now been sent out to Mr. C. P. together with their food-plants. Lounsbury, Chief of the Union Division of Entomology, for revision and amplification.
Our Russian translator, Mr. Hermer, has been latterly engaged upon adding to the Pest Catalogue from the Russian literature contained in our own library; but as this work was drawing to a close his engagement was terminated at the end of February. Subsequently we secured the services of an English lady, Miss F. B. Constable, who has a very thorough knowledge of both Russian and German, We shall thus and will replace one of our abstractors who is shortly leaving. still be in a position to deal with the current Russian literature when it reappears and shall save the part-time salary paid to Mr. Hermer, which used to be £3 a week, but was reduced last September to £2.
"Review of Applied Entomology."-The sales of this periodical during 1918 show a small, but satisfactory, increase over those of the previous year, as may be seen from the following statement
1917.
1918.
Subscribers to Series "A" and "B" combined Subscribers to Series "A" only
133
146
28
32
36
42
Subscribers to Series "B" only
Total net sales
Cost of distribution
£120 18 5 £133 3 8 £109 0 0 £115 0 0
The cost of distribution, in which is included that of the free and exchange copies, has necessarily been affected by the increased postal rates. For 1919 the Review has been registered at the General Post Office for transmission to Canada and Newfoundland by magazine post, which will appreciably reduce the cost of postage.
The total matter published in Volume VI. was again slightly greater, being eight hundred and eight pages, as against seven hundred and seventy-six in
Volume V.
Library. The money expended on the library last year was £40 more than the amount estimated, owing to the fact that our bookbinders were able to clear off the arrears of binding more quickly than they had anticipated. Some three hundred volumes were bound, the total number now exceeding one thousand five hundred. The cataloguing and author's index for both the bound library and the collection The number of of pamphlets and reports, is now, practically complete to date.
books and pamphlets borrowed shows an increase on that of the previous year, and it seems likely that there will be a considerable development of this branch of the library work in the future.