SKETCH OF ALP HE US SPRING PACKARD. 263 



ited Key West and the Tortugas for the purpose of studying a 

 tropical marine fauna, and from which he brought back large 

 collections of marine invertebrates to swell the museum of the 

 Peabody Academy of Science. On his return he stopped for a 

 while at Beaufort, N. C, since made so celebrated as a zoological 

 center by the labors of Dr. Brooks and his students, but which 

 at that time was scarcely known. The next winter another 

 Southern trip was taken — this time to Charleston, S. C, where 

 some weeks were spent in the study of marine embryology, the 

 results of which are still almost entirely in manuscript. 



As is well known, a large proportion of the animals and 

 plants of the United States were first scientifically described 

 in Europe from specimens sent from here there by early col- 

 lectors. The specimens which form the basis of these descrip- 

 tions ("types" they are called) are scrupulously preserved in 

 the museums, and it often becomes necessary for the naturalist 

 to consult them to ascertain exactly what species some previous 

 student had before him when he wrote the description which is 

 not sufficient to identify the species. So Dr. Packard found it 

 necessary to visit Europe, in 1872, to see for himself the insects 

 described by the older European entomologists, and the result of 

 the trip was considerable changes in the names of many of our 

 butterflies and moths, for, according to the rules of zoological no- 

 menclature, the first name applied to a species is the name that 

 must hold. All the changes which prove so vexatious to the be- 

 ginner, and for which it is not always easy to see the reason, are 

 but steps toward permanence. By and by each species will be 

 known by the name first given it, and then there will be no more 

 of that tossing from pillar to post. 



During the years 1871-1873 Dr. Packard held the position of 

 State Entomologist of Massachusetts, and lectured at both the 

 Maine and Massachusetts Agricultural Colleges upon the subject 

 of economic entomology ; but as these positions were very eco- 

 nomically managed by the States, and were offices of honor 

 rather than profit, they were resigned the latter year. In 1871 

 and 1872 he had written a small book in connection with Prof. 

 Putnam upon the animals found in the Mammoth Cave, and then 

 laid the foundation for that interest in the origin and effects of 

 cave-life which is soon to come to fruition in an extensive mem- 

 oir on the subject. As a result of this book he was appointed 

 an assistant, in 1874, on the Kentucky Geological Survey, then 

 under the charge of his former fellow-student. Prof. Shaler, and 

 directed to make a thorough exploration of the Kentucky caves. 

 The next two years he held the position of assistant zoologist 

 on the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the 

 Territories, under the charge of Prof. F. Y. Hayden, and in that 



