A.—2

Parasite Laboratory. —It was obviously inadvisable to take any definite steps towards the establishment of a Parasite Laboratory on the line approved by the Entomological Conference until we were quite certain as to what our income was going to be. The scheme adopted was based on the assumption that our receipts would amount to not less than £13,000, the estimated cost of the parasite work being £1,440 annually. Information has only just been received regarding the contribution from the Government of India, and, as they are not prepared to give us more than half the sum for which we had hoped, our income will be £500 short of the amount that was considered necessary for the proper carrying-out of the scheme. In the circumstances it is suggested that the committee might consider carefully whether, in spite of this disappointment, it might not still be desirable to restart the parasite work on a somewhat smaller scale than had been contemplated, utilizing a certain proportion of our accumulated surplus for the purpose. There can be no question that there is a definite demand from various Dominions and colonies for assistance in procuring beneficial parasites, and it seems desirable that we should make some attempt to meet this if it can possibly be arranged. Owing to our lack of knowledge, any work of this nature must at present be largely speculative, but if we can only effect one or two successful introductions we should probably find little difficulty in securing further funds for the extension of our activities in this direction. Collection of Insects. —The number of insects received shows some reduction as compared with the previous year, and this may partly be accounted for by the fact that a number of entomologists were away on leave attending our Conference. In the following details the corresponding figures for the preceding year are given in brackets for comparison : — The collections received totalled 314 (347), and these were sent in by 133 (134) correspondents, distributed as follows : Africa, 46 ; Asia, 33 ; Europe, 19 ; Tropical America, 18 ; Australasia, 17. The collections contained 54,200 (63,700) specimens, of which 4,800 (8,600) were blood-suckers. During the year, 218' (275) lists of identifications were issued, comprising 6,155 (8,171) specific names. Several collections of named blood-sucking insects and agricultural pests were distributed, 3,600 (10,600) specimens being presented to the following institutions : Chelsea Polytechnic Institute ; Glasgow University ; Imperial College of Science, London ; Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad ; Medical Research Institute, Accra, Gold Coast; Moscow Tropical Institute ; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine ; Ohio State Museum ; United States National Museum. The insects presented to the British Museum numbered 14,900 (10,100), of which 318 (247) were types of species new to science, and among the remainder were 553 (398) named species not previously represented in the national collection. Review of Applied Entomology. —The number of abstracts published exceeded that for 1924, being 2,514 (2,471), and occupied 842 (792) pages exclusive of the indices. This is the largest number of abstracts yet published in any one year. There has been a satisfactory increase in the number of subscribers, especially to Series A, the number of complete volumes sold being, Series A 352 (327), and Series B 323 (318). There has again been a great demand for the previous volumes, the gross sales of which amounted to £221 17s. 6d. (£lBl 9s. Bd.). The amount received for advertisements is still small, being practically the same as in the previous year, £42 lis. 3d. There has been a fairly good demand for the ten-year index to Series B, and seventy-two copies have been sold, bringing in £28 17s. 6d. The total net sales, excluding advertisements, came to £541 4s. od., as compared with £431 10s. Id. in 1924, and £341 4s. 4d. in 1923, and these figures sufficiently indicate the steadily increasing demand for the publication. Bulletin of Entomological Research. —Another volume (No. xvi) was completed within the financial year, except for the index, which will be issued with the first part of the next volume. The volume contains 408 (400) pages and 21 (16) plates. The following is a statement of the cost of production and the receipts from sales, &c. : — £ s. d. ] £ s. d. Printing and Paper .. .. .. 432 10 6 -Subscriptions and sales .. .. .. 385 10 5 Illustrations .. .. .. 119 1 0 Advertisements.. .. .. .. 16 5 0 Postages .. .. .. .. 45 18 0 Deficit .. .. .. 215 14 1 £597 9 6 £597 9 6 The deficit is much the smallest we have had since the war, being £107 less than that on the preceding volume, compared with which the cost of printing is £9 more and the illustrations £50 less ; whereas on the credit side the sales have increased by £55 and the advertisements by £10. The number of subscribers was 277, as compared with 253, 252, and 241 in the three preceding years —a very satisfactory increase. Zoological Record.—The volume of the " Insecta " part for 1924 was published on October, 1925, and it had therefore only been on sale for less than three months before the statement of the financial position respecting it had to be rendered to the Zoological Society, at the end of the calendar year. This statement showed that after payment of all the amounts due to the society, discounts to booksellers and postages, there was a balance of £31 lis. Id. in favour of the Bureau. The number of complete parts sold to that date was eighty-two and, in addition, forty-three of the separate sections. Since then nine complete parts and seventeen sections have been sold up to the 31st March. Over ' and above this, fourteen copies of back volumes were sold to the 31st December, and a further eight up to the 31st March. There can be little doubt that on a whole year's working the profit to the Bureau will be considerably greater in view of the fact that, by the terms of our agreement with the Zoological Society, we are able to get a much larger profit on all the copies of each volume sold after the first sixty-seven, which was the average number sold annually during the three years before the Bureau took over the distribution. In less than six months we have already raised the sales more than 50 per cent, above that average.

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