6 RHYNCHOPIIORA OF NORTH EASTERN AM ERICA. 



dents attending- their capture, for most of the species treated 

 have been personally collected. As we discussed together the 

 minutia? of classification, interruptions caused by memories of 

 the swamps and rocks of Labrador and Newfoundland, the woods, 

 rivers and lakes of Indiana, or the pine regions and hammocks of 

 Florida, would disturb the work, for we could not entirely forget 

 the living forms in our study of their dead remains. 



The universal kindness we encountered from many old friends 

 as the work progressed also added greatly to the pleasure of the 

 task. It may be hard to single out a few to specially thank for 

 their help, but we cannot omit Dr. Leland O. Howard, Mr. Samuel 

 Henshaw and Dr. Henry Skinner, who each permitted the examin- 

 ation of valuable specimens in their care; Mr. Andrew J. Mutchler 

 who, by permission of Dr. Frank E. Lutz, never wearied in work- 

 ing out bibliographical tangles through his knowledge of the 

 books in the American Museum library. A host of private col- 

 lectors have sent us distribution data and specimens for examin- 

 ation ; among them Messrs. Win. T. Davis, Lewis P>. Woodruff, 

 Ernest Shoemaker, Geo. P. Engelhardt, E. A. Bischoff, H. W. 

 Wenzel, C. A. Frost, P. G. Bolster, Norman Easton, II. P. Loding. 

 R. W. Harned, C. J. Ouellett, John D. Sherman, Jr., Harold Mor- 

 rison, Harry Dietz and Harry H. Knight have been most kind. 

 Prof. J. Chester Bradley put the Cornell University collection 

 including that of R. J. Crew, at our disposal, as did also Emil 

 Liljeblad. of Chicago, his private collection. All the Florida 

 records of Mrs. Annie Trumbull Slosson and Dr. E. A. Schwarz 

 were also copied. Col. Thos. L. Casey, H. C. Fall and Chas. Dury 

 have also kindly compared specimens for us with types in their 

 collections and have furnished us information or data regarding 

 many others, while Dr. S. A. Forbes and his assistant, Chas. A. 

 Hart, Dr. E. P. Felt and F. L. Washburn have greatly favored 

 us with the loan of books and illustrations. It is a pleasure to 

 acknowledge and extend thanks for such assistance and to recall 

 especially the golden days spent in Washington with Pierce and 

 Barber, and above all Dr. Schwarz, whose aid in multitudinous 

 ways can never be forgotten. 



The difficulty of the task and the imperfections that, in spite 

 of all care, mar its fulfillment are plainer now than they were 

 when we commenced to write this work. Perhaps if we had then 

 known as much about Rhynchophora as we do now, we should 

 never have started. Without dwelling upon these difficulties. 



