514 JOHN LAWRENCE LE CONTE. 



Agassiz in 1849 on his exploration of Lake Superior, and published 

 an account of the Coleoptera collected on this journey. 



In the autumn of 1850 he visited California, stopping a short lime 

 at Panama, and staying in San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego 

 with Dr. C. C. Parry, who was connected with the Mexican Boun- 

 dary Survey. In November he crossed the Colorado Desert, and 

 was in February in the valley of the Gila. 



In 1852, the Le Contes removed to Philadelphia. The abundant 

 new material obtained on his journeys was directly studied. It is 

 really marvellous to look over the large number of papers (nearly 

 sixty) published by him in the years subsequent to his travels. Some 

 are of great extent, as the one on Longicornia ; others, called by hira 

 mostly Synopses, are shorter, but all are the result of his own most 

 thorough study. 



In 1857 Le Conte was connected for a few months with the Hon- 

 duras Interoceanic Railway Survey, only to resume his interrupted 

 scientific labor till the breaking out of the war. 



In 1861, he was married to JNIiss Helen Grier, and after his mar- 

 riage gave up the practice of medicine. Shortly after, he joined the 

 army during the war as Lieutenant-Colonel and Medical Inspector. 

 After the war, in 18G7, he acted as geologist for the railroad survey 

 through Kansas and New Mexico, and again in connection with his 

 old friend, Dr. Parry. 



His studies were now so far advanced, that he decided to publish 

 a general work on the classification of the North American Coleoptera 

 for the benefit of the increasing number of students. The first part, 

 j)ublished in 1862, has iudeed served as a basis for the study of all 

 American students. The comparison of this work with that of Lacor- 

 daire is very interesting. Le Conte's work goes not farther than the 

 recently published fifth volume of Lacordaire. In comparing the 

 larger groups, the families, and the genera, it is easily understood how 

 carefully he had studied Lacordaire's master work. But everywhere 

 he has aimed to build up a similar work, based upon his own studies 

 and his own convictions. This general work was followed by a new 

 and entirely changed catalogue of the known and described species. 



After such long and uninterrupted work a vacation was needed 

 imperatively. In the autumn of 1869 he started for Europe with his 

 family, remaining abroad until near the close of 1872, and visiting 

 in the mean time Algiers and Egypt. As he was acknowledged in 

 Europe as a high authority in his field, this vacation turned into more 

 or less a working vacation. He had for the first time the chance to 



