146 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, 



ganize a society, and, on the 22<d of February, 1859, a meeting- 

 was held for that purpose at the residence of E. T. Cresson, No. 

 728 Erie Street, and a committee appointed to draft a Constitu- 

 tion and By-Laws, whose report was adopted at a subsequent 

 meeting, the association receiving the name of "The Entomo- 

 logical Society of Philadelphia." 



The object of the Society is set forth in Article VI. of the 

 Constitution, which reads as follows: "Every member elected 

 to the Society is expected to communicate, either by writing or 

 verbally, information of the name, locality, habits, time, etc., of 

 insects taken within the United States of America, the same to be 

 recorded in books kept for that purpose, and open to the inspec- 

 tion of members." The financial support of the Society was 

 provided for by Article II. of the By-Laws, viz. : " Every mem- 

 ber elected to the Society shall pay to the Treasurer an initiation 

 fee of 50 cents, and shall be subject to a monthly contribution of 

 6 cents, payable at the last stated meeting of each month." 



The Society consisted of the following organization members : 

 Dr. Thos. B. Wilson, Dr. John L. LeConte, James Ridings, 

 George Newman, T. B. Ashton, J. W. McAllister, E. T. Cresson, 

 Henry Feldman, George Hill, Charles Wilt, John Pearsall, Wil- 

 liam Evett, J. H. B. Bland, John Meichel, Robert Jack, Wm. S. 

 Wood, Thomas Cox, William Wolter, Chas. J. Wood, Louis 

 Schneider, and S. H. Shinn ; in all, twenty-one. The first offi- 

 cers elected were, President, John L. LeConte ; Vice-President, 

 James Ridings ; Secretary, E. T. Cresson ; Treasurer, Charles 

 Wilt. The first member elected was Henry Ulke, and the first 

 correspondent was Baron R. Osten Sacken. 



After meeting several times at Mr. Cresson' s house, the So- 

 ciety adjourned, by invitation of Dr. LeConte, to his residence, 

 No. 1325 Spruce Street, where it continued to meet while I re- 

 mained in the city. The Society in its early days \vas much in- 

 debted, financially, to Dr. T. B. Wilson, for many acts of gener- 

 osity ; he also donated many specimens of the various orders of 

 insects to its collections. All the members seemed to take an 

 active interest in its affairs, and did the best they could to pro- 

 mote its prosperity. Among them all I remember of only two 

 who then possessed named collections, viz. : Dr. LeConte and 

 Mr. Ulke, and they were confined to Coleoptera. Most of the 

 members were good collectors, had many line specimens, and 



