120 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



gy that amiable simplicity wliicli she has had in the times of Linnseus, 

 of. Geoffrey, and of the first productions of Fabricius, and yet j^resent 

 her as she is to-day, with all the richness which she has acquired from 

 observation, but without surcharging her with it ; to conform her, in 

 one word, to the model which I have under my eyes, the work of 

 Cuvier — such is the end which I have taken upon myself to attain." 



Dr. Fitch, to a large extent, accomplished this work ; but his pub- 

 lished treatises form only a small portion of his labors in that direc- 

 tion. One hundred note-books filled with complete and accurate en- 

 tomological descriptions still remain on the shelves of his ofiice, nearly 

 or quite ready for the press ; and it is much to be regretted that his 

 life Avent out before he had finally completed and published them, and 

 before he had arranged for the permanent retention in this country of 

 his cabinet of insects. 



The position of Dr. Fitch as State Entomologist, and the wide cir- 

 culation of his published writings, brought to him from all quarters 

 insects of rare and little known species to be named and classified. 

 This, joined to his own untiring energy as a collector, enabled him to 

 fill his cabinet to overflowing with the rarest and least known species 

 of many lands. It is rich in all the orders, and especially so in useful, 

 obnoxious, and curious species ; and is probably one of the most valu- 

 able collections in this country, and one that it would be impossible 

 to duplicate. As such it should be purchased and retained by the 

 State. 



It is impossible to summarize the benefits which scholars of Dr. 

 Fitch's character confer upon the world. But it is safe to assume 

 that they are of incalculable value. It is many millions the richer for 

 Dr. Fitch's researches in the science of entomology, and would have 

 been had he written only of the wheat-midge, the Hessian fly, and the 

 currant-worm. 



Dr. Fitch lived to the age of seventy. His life was full of strong, 

 pure manhood — full of such labor and study as few men have physical 

 power to endure — full of the gentleness, the kindliness, and peace 

 which come of well-living, and full of the honors which his labors had 

 earned. He died April 8, 1879, the death of a good man. 



