GEORGE HENRY HORN. 



ment against myself and Dr. LeCoute. It is the assumption that 

 we have no collections for reference beyond our own species." Even 

 such well-disposed critics as Dr. Sharp and M. de Borre had sug- 

 gested as much in their above-quoted notices of the Carabid paper, 

 so that the distinct denials of any such prejudices made by the Rev. 

 Mr. Matthews (in the Review of the ' Classification') and Dr. Dohrn 

 (notice of the Silphid paper) must have been welcome reading to 

 the subject of this biography. 



We have already quoted the opinions of two well-known American 

 Coleopterologists — Mr. Samuel Henshaw and Prof. John B. Smith — 

 on Dr. Horn's work, and both of these have already published some 

 notices on the same subject. From letters with which two English 

 authorities have kindly favored us, we are glad to quote. 



Dr. David Sharp writes from the University Museum of Zoology, 

 Cambridge, England, Jan. 24th, 1898, "The chief difficulty we en- 

 tomologists have to contend with in comparison with the students 

 of other branches of Zoology is the enormous number of specific 

 forms that have to be examined previous to the establishment of any 

 trustworthy generalisations. Dr. Horn did a great deal of that sort 

 of work in a satisfactory if not final manner. The difficulty men- 

 tioned above leads inevitably to the study of entomology by faunal 

 limits. Dr. LeConte's work — genius as he was— was limited almost 

 absolutely in that manner, but Horn perceiving the discrepancies 

 that were thus created, and also the evils of incompatible classifica- 

 tions in a single group set to work to gain a knowledge of the extra- 

 American forms, and as a result he did good work of a general char- 

 acter by combining the classifications existing in America with those 

 in vogue in Europe, and as a result producing papers of a wide 

 general value, such as that on the Adephaga, and that on the Sil- 

 phidje. Add to this that he felt a genuine and natural interest in 

 his work, and waS therefore master of the patience indispensable for 

 any satisfactory study in entomology, and I think you will have in 

 mind the chief points that have established his reputation as a great 

 Coleopterologist. " 



Mr. G. C. Champion writes from London, January 25th, 1898, 

 " Dr. Horn had an excellent eye for picking out the important salient 

 characters of genera and species, as well as for generalizing in mat- 

 ters of classification in which he showed exceptional powers. That 

 his deductions were sound is proved by the fact that most of his 

 work has been generally accepted. His long outstanding friendship 



TKANS. AM. ENT. SOC. MAY. 1898 



