66 
LOEW’S WORK ON AMBER DIPTERA 
lisli the whole work on Amber Diptera, which cost me so much 
study and labor; but it seems that I must definitively give it up. 
Although the Physico-Economic Society of Konigsberg had agreed 
(‘hat sich verpflichtet’) to publish this work, it has never made 
any step towards the fulfilment of this promise, so that a large 
portion of the letter-press and of the copper-plates which were 
submitted to the Society many years ago are still awaiting pub¬ 
lication. I wish you would make up your mind sometime to un¬ 
dertake a revision of the family of Amber Tipulidae in its totality; 
the figures of all the species are drawn, and the necessary data for 
preparing descriptions are ready (‘ die notigen Notizen zu den 
Beschreibungen gemacht’). To produce a useful and available 
publication would require the overhauling of all the species with 
regard to those characters which would qualify them for being 
located in your systematic arrangement, and to bring the generic 
names introduced by me into harmony with those that are used 
now for the recent ones. Such a working up would surely bring 
new light into the genetic connection of the genera and the dis¬ 
tribution of their species.” I answered this letter from Florence 
(April 7, 1878) and said: “ I shall reflect upon your proposal to 
revise the Amber Tipulidae. The task would be most interesting 
for me, because hitherto I have had but a very superficial view 
of them.” Loew’s answer to this letter was dated April 21, 1878, 
a year, day for day, before his death. It gives a striking picture 
of his state of mind at that time, and an insight into the final col¬ 
lapse of the unfortunate Amber Diptera business. The letter was 
either dictated, or copied by another hand, because the rather 
tremulous signature alone was in Loew’s handwriting. I translate 
a portion of it verbatim: — 
“Gcben, April 21, 1878. 
“Your letter of April 7 reached me a few days ago. I followed your 
journey with interest, and envied you the enjoyment you were having. 
The Tertiary Diptera from Aix in Provence have interested me in former 
times [1 had examined some of them in the Museum of Marseille. — 0. S.], 
and have been the subject of many researches. I have had occasion to 
examine attentively, under the eye of Ileer, the species described by him. 
The remarks which I published about them in the Zeitschr. gesammi. 
