Article beginning on page 19.
Psyche 6:19-20, 1891.

Full text (searchable PDF)
Durable link: http://psyche.entclub.org/6/6-019.html

The following unprocessed text is extracted from the PDF file, and is likely to be both incomplete and full of errors. Please consult the PDF file for the complete article.

PSYCHE.
ON THE RELATION BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC AND ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY.
BY CHARLES W. WOODWORTH, FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. [Annual address of the retiring president of the Cambridge Entomological Club, 9 January, 1891.1 The subject of this address is not of
the kind usually chosen for similar occa- sions but is of none the less interest and importance. It is one also &at is in full harmony with the genius of this society
which is the recognition of the preemi-
nence of what is called the philosophy
of science. Another reason makes it of
especial immediate importance to us.
Economic entomology is upon the verge
of an era of great advancement. The
establishment of the agricultural ex-
periment stations have added to its ranks more young men of scientific training
and ability perhaps than have ever en-
gaged in this line of investigation.
If
economic entomology is but a phase of
scientific entomology then we want to
put forth especial efforts to assimilate this young blood in our ranks ; if on the other hand they are different and distinct, the difference will become more and
more apparent as economic entomology
develops and we should define our posi-
tion as on the side of pure science.
I believe that the pure sciences are
distinct from the economic sciences ; that this is the primary division of science. We seem to be prone in this utilitarian
age to try to find excuse for the pursuit of pure science by holding up the possi- bility of applying our discoveries for
economic ends. Let us recognize and
not act as though we were ashamed of
the fact that the sole aim of the student of pure science is the discovery of truth, catering to human wants being entirely
out of his province.
It may be said that laying aside this
matter of sentiment, the human wants
are supplied through the discoveries of
science and that this is simply the appli- cation of science for economic purposes, or, to put ita little stronger, that econom- ics are but applied sciences. Such a
statement comes from the conception
that facts are or in some way become the peculiar property of a science. This is
not the case however. Perhaps if we
could see all the intimate relations
sciences have to each other we should
say that every fact belongs to every
science; at any rate we could scarcely
name a fact which when closely viewed
has not more than one bearing. An ex-
ample of the far reaching character of
a fact is that of the origin of species
through evolution. When Darwin es-




================================================================================

PSYCHE. [February 1891.
tablished the truth of this fact it soon came to be recognized that this basal
fact of evolution was a fundamental
principal of almost every other science
which had occupied the attention of
man. For economic purposes it is the
facts which are appropriated, and in the same way that the biologist appropri-
ates the facts discovered by the chemist. Economic sciences no more become
departments or applications of other
sciences by using some of the same facts than biology becomes a department or
application of chemistry.
It may be further contended that in
the cases cited above we have to do with real sciences but that the so called eco- nomic sciences have no right to the title of science, that they are essentially dif- ferent. This will lead us to a consider- ation of what a science is. We have
just seen that it does not consist of a body of facts peculiar to itself, but on the other hand it is evident that facts are closely connected with it, that it depends in-
deed on a set of facts, and further that these facts have some definite relation to each other and are susceptible of a
rational classification. This classifica- tion is not the science as it cannot ex- press nearly all the relationships, but
these relationships do constitute the
science. Any one science does not com-
prehend all the bearings of any fact but only such as have a relation to that one subject. The science of entomology, for
example, consists the of relationship of the facts to insects. The relation of the same facts to the subject of plant dis-
eases belongs to another science. When
the subject is economic, the production
of honey, the feeding of stock, or the
like, are there any grounds upon which
we can refuse it the title of science ?
The economic sciences are all infan-
tile, many perhaps not yet even con-
ceived of by man. They are the only
true foundation to the useful arts. Agri- culture is a science though hidden by a
mass of misconception and empiricism.
It must make its advances by the same
methods that have made the pure sciences what they are. A clear conception of
the object and structure of the science
and experimentation with all the
conditions under control are essential.
Economic entomology as generally
understood is chiefly a department of
agriculture but includes much heteroge-
neous material. To be a scientifically
rational term, it must, like some of the genera of the older naturalists, be re-
stricted. I can in no better way show
the difference between it and scientific entomology than to indicate the parts
of economic entomology and show where
they belong among the economic
sciences.
Insects of economic importance may
be grouped into six categories. First,
those directly injurious to man, which
properly forms a department of medi-
cine. Second, those attacking the do-
mestic animals, a part of veterinary
medicine. Third, those injuring culti-
vated plants, which includes by far the
major part of the injurious insects and
to which the term economic entomology
should be restricted ; it is only a part and perhaps not a natural part of the




================================================================================

February 1891 .] PSK'HE. 2 1
science which deals with the .diseases of cultivated plants. Fourth, those which
destroy other property ; in this category are the insects attacking furs, woollen
goods, etc., and the food stuffs, which
belong to domestic economy and at the
same time to commerce ; library insects
belong to library economy and so on.
Fifth, those directly beneficial to man, which includes the bee, the silk worm,
etc., industries which form one of the
primary divisions of agriculture. Sixth, those indirectly beneficial to man by de- stroying the injurious insects ; these in- sects of course belong to the sciences
that consider the insects which are their victims.
Finally, to recapitulate, scientific en- tomology is a department of biology,
economic entomology of agriculture.
They have all the difference between
them that there is between a pure sci-
ence and an economic science. Can we
as a society include them both? I think
we should not. On the other hand the
economic enton~ologists are nearly all
at the same time scientific entomolo-
gists. These we can and do welcome.
A LIST OF THE ORTHOPTERA OF ILLINOIS.-11. BY JEROME MCNEILL, FAYETTEVILLE, ARK.
LOCUSTIDAE.
I 9.
Scudderia curvicauda De Geer.
This is an abundant species in Illinois
in suitable localities. Its favorite haunt is the wild meadows and prairies cov-
ered with coarse grasses and weeds. It
is the only one of the katydids that
flies freely in the daytime. It is in fact crepuscular rather than nocturnal. It
may be seen flying at any hour of the
day, but its note is not generally heard until the middle of the afternoon.
The
note cannot be supposed to represent
more than the first two syllables of the "Ka-ty-did" 01- "Ka-ty.-did-n't" of its
congeners. It is made but once and
the rasping jerky sound has been very
well represented by Mr. Scudder as
b%ruG.
It has been found at Moline as
early as the 2 1st of July.
20. Scudderia fuscata Brunner.
This species is more abundant than the
last but it too must be looked for in the right place. It is even less domestic in its habits than curvicauda. The latter
is sometimes found about houses and
gardens in town but the former is almost never seen in town. It may be looked
for in the shrubs and undershrubs of
open woods and clearings and in weedy
fields and meadows. Its note is indis-
tinguishable from that of cwvicauda
but it is much less frequently heard.
The earliest recorded date of its cap-
ture at Moline is August 4th.
2 I. AmbZyco@ha oblongifolia De




================================================================================