PREFACE. 



It was the habit of the late Dr. Harris to preserve complete 

 copies of nearly all his letters, written, sometimes, with scrupu- 

 lous care, in books kept for the purpose ; at others, upon odd 

 scraps of paper now scarcely legible from age or handling ; these, 

 with the answers received by him, form so rich a comment- 

 ary upon the history of the earlier period of American entom- 

 ology, and his other unpublished manuscripts are so filled with 

 interesting scientific facts, that the Council of the Natural His- 

 tory Society commissioned me to collect everything of interest 

 for publication in a single volume. In carrying out the trust 

 confided to me, I have endeavored, first of all, to have the 

 volume represent the author as perfectly as possible, in dic- 

 tion, in illustration, in method, and in the whole choice of ma- 

 terial. In the illustrations, I have been fortunate in securing 

 the assistance of Mr. E. S. Morse, who has drawn the wood 

 cuts, and of Mr. S. L. Smith, who has engraved the plates. 

 The authorship of the figures in the body of the work is suffi- 

 ciently indicated by the context ; the illustrations in the plates 

 are mostly from Dr. Harris's drawings, and in all cases from 

 drawings m his former possession ; we have endeavored to re- 

 produce these — even when rough or incomplete — as closely as 

 possible, and such a degree of exactitude has been attained as 

 reflects great credit upon the artists. I regret that as great a 

 measure of success has not attended the coloring. 



