30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL.84 



practical value. Then there was another one on " The Flea," one on 

 " Spiders," one on " The Silkworm." and one entitled " Unwelcome 

 Guests" which related to household insects. 



Thaddeus William Harris 



Doctor Harris was horn in Dorchester, Massachusetts, November 

 12, 1795, and died January i6, 1856. His father was a minister of 

 the Congregational Church, and was Librarian of Harvard College 

 from 1 791 to 1793. He wrote " The Natural History of the Bible " 

 which was published in 1820. Young Harris graduated from Har- 

 vard in 181 5. While there he heard lectures by Prof. W. D. Peck 

 on entomology. He studied medicine, and began practice at Milton, 

 Massachusetts. His entomological interest continued, and he con- 

 stantly collected. He gave up the practice of medicine in 1831, and 

 was appointed Librarian of Harvard where he remained for the rest 

 of his life. From 1837 ^o 1842 he lectured on natural history, but 

 the subject was a voluntary one and attendance was not required. He 

 also had a private class in entomology. 



In 1 83 1 he prepared a catalog of insects, appended to Hitchcock's 

 Massachusetts Geological Report. At a later i>eriod he was appointed 

 by the State as one of the commission for a more thorough geological 

 and botanical survey. In the course of this work he prepared his 

 " Report on Insects Injurious to Vegetation," which was first published 

 in full in 1 841, the portion on the beetles having apjx'ared in 1838. 

 lie reprinted the work under the name " Treatise " instead of 

 " Report," in 1842, and again, in revised form, in 1852. He was 

 ])aid $175 by the State for this work. After his death the work was 

 reprinted by the State in very beautiful form, with wood engrav- 

 ings which themselves marked an ejKich in that art. It is large'y upon 

 this work that Harris' scientific reputation rests. It will always be 

 considered a classic. 



During the last 15 years of his life Harris' health was far from 

 good, although he was rarely confined to the house by illness. He 

 worked against odds, yet his life was far from an unhapi)y one. He 

 led a ])ure, simi)le, and busy life. His unenvious spirit is exemplified 

 in almost every line which he has left behind him. His literary style 

 is simplicity itself. Doctor Harris was not by taste an economic ento- 

 mologist. He was a lover of nature and student of insects because 

 they interested him. He did not know agriculture, apparently, except 

 l)y occasional reading; and yet, with his careful accounts oi the life 

 histories of many injurious insects, he laid a basis for much future 

 work. He was keenly aware of the necessity for better remedies 



