Preface 



a partial return to the learned author for the money, labor, and 

 time expended upon it. The present volume, while not pretend- 

 ing to vie in any respect with the magnificence of the illustrations 

 contained in these beautiful and costly works, nevertheless pre- 

 sents in recognizable form almost every species figured in them, 

 and in addition a multitude of others, many of which have 

 never before been delineated. So far as possible I have em- 

 ployed, in making the illustrations, the original types from which 

 the author of the species drew his descriptions. This fact will no 

 doubt add greatly to the value of the work, as it will not only 

 serve as a popular guide, but have utility also for the scientific 

 student. 



I am under obligations to numerous friends and correspondents 

 who have aided me, and take the present opportunity to extend 

 to them all my hearty thanks for the generous manner in which 

 they have assisted me in my pleasant task. I should fail, how- 

 ever, to follow the instincts of a grateful heart did I not render an 

 especial acknowledgment to Mr. W. H. Edwards, of Coalburg, 

 West Virginia, and Dr. Samuel H. Scudder, of Cambridge, Massa- 

 chusetts. Justly esteemed as the two foremost lepidopterists of 

 America, it is my honor to claim them as personal friends, whose 

 kindness has much aided me in this labor of scientific love which 

 I have undertaken. For the kind permission given me by Dr. 

 Scudder to use various illustrations contained in the "Butterflies 

 of New England " and other works, I am profoundly grateful. 



I am under obligations to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons for 

 permission to use the cuts numbered 46-49, 51-56, 59, 61, 62, 

 and 73, which are taken from the work entitled "Taxidermy and 

 Zoological Collecting," by W. T. Hornaday, and to the authorities 

 of the United States National Museum and the heirs of the late 

 Professor C. V. Riley for other illustrations. 



Should this book find the favor which I have reason to think it 

 deserves, I shall endeavor shortly to follow it by the preparation 

 of a similar work upon the moths of the United States and Canada. 



Office of the Chancellor, W. J. H. 



Western University of Pennsylvania, 

 August 16, 1898. 



VII 



