An address delivered at the adjourned anniversary meeting of the Entomological Society of London, on the 10th February, 1845 / by George Newport.

  • Newport, George, 1803-1854.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An address delivered at the adjourned anniversary meeting of the Entomological Society of London, on the 10th February, 1845 / by George Newport. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    also the first part of the fourth volume of his admirable ‘ Handbook of Systematic Entomology.’ It is scarcely necessary that I should remind you of the value of everything that proceeds from the pen of our distinguished member; who, in addition to his unsurpassed skill in the anatomy of insects, is one of the very best authorities on the arrangement of them, and may justly be regarded as the La- treille of the day on Systematic Entomology. In addition to these works, I may notice the continuation of Koch’s descriptions of He- miptera and Arachnida; also a fine work on the Lepidoptera of the Caucasian provinces of Russia, the work of twenty-five years’ la- bour, by Eversmann. These are the chief entomological publications that have appeared on the continent during the last year. From this enumeration of works, and from the subjects which many of them embrace, I think it must be seen that the pursuit of Entomology is becoming more and more philosophic; and, I trust, will be made applicable to useful purposes. This is the great object of all rational knowledge, and is that which ought to guide us in all our investigations of nature. Our inquiries as naturalists,—as ento- mologists, should not terminate with the simple ascertainment of a curious or an isolated fact, but should always be directed towards the application of facts to purposes of science; either immediately, to matters of public interest, to the agriculturist, the horticulturist, or to the arts; or collaterally, to the elucidation of the general laws of life, on which health and disease depend:—to bring the scattered details of observations which the inexhaustible study of our favourite pursuit. Entomology, aflFords, to the illustration of the grand scheme of nature and of life,—the great principles of creation in the living world. Let the idle and the flij)pant mock at our pursuits,—let the cynic scowl and sneer at the earnestness of that attention which is devoted to watching the moment when the larva spins its cocoon ; or when the perfected insect awakes and bursts forth from its qui- escent, death-like sleep; or that which is bestowed on rearing the maggot from the egg;—and then let them turn to the gay habili- ments that invest their own persons,—that add comfort and magni- ficence to their dwellings :—let them also regard the materials that alike protect the wealthy and the poor from the rigour of the season; and let them remember, that the one which contributes to their mag- nificence is the sole product of the larva whose changes they regard as too trivial for their notice; and that the other may be attacked and destroyed by the diminutive maggot which they scorn.
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