obiTUARY. 256 



necessary, as there must be a far larger number of species of Micro- 

 lepidoptera in that county than is here recorded. In the meantime 

 this Hst will form a most useful basis on which to work. — A.S. 



BIT U AR Y. 



Dr. Samuel Hubbard Scudder. 



The death of one of the most distinguished of the entomologists of 

 the United States of America took place on May 17th, 1911, after 

 years of gradually increasing bodily weakness and infirmity, which, 

 however, left his mental powers unimpaired to the end. For most of 

 the personal details of his life we are indebted to the kindly notice of 

 him contributed to the Canadian Kntotnolo(ji!it by its Editor Emeritus, 

 the Rev. C. J. S. Bethune. Dr. Samuel Hubbard Scudder was a 

 native of Boston, where he was born in the year 1837. He took his 

 Science degree at Harvard University in 1857, and later in life received 

 the honorary degrees of D.Sc. and L.L.D. from Williams and 

 Pittsburgh Universities respectively.' Dr. Bethune says of him : 

 " A lover of Nature from his earliest years, he devoted his life to the 

 study of the insect world, and at the same time did not neglect the 

 refining cultivation of music and literature. His charm of manner, 

 kindliness of thought, entire unselfishness, refinement and courtesy, 

 attracted to him the friendship of the leaders in science, art, and 

 literature in that centre of culture where he lived. He was always 

 considerate and sympathetic with the poor and struggling students of 

 nature and the aspiring entomologists, however uncouth they might 

 be, winning their heart's devotion and life-long admiration and 

 respect. A loveable man indeed, and a trusty friend to those who 

 knew him well." Two bitter sorrows came to him, the death of his 

 young wife a few years after his marriage, and later the loss of his 

 only son, who had entered upon a physician's career with every 

 prospect of attaining distinction, and who met with an untimely- 

 death, brought on by his over-devotion to the needs and calls of the 

 sick in a time of severe epidemic in Boston. Dr. Bethune remarks 

 what " a rare delight " it was " to spend an hour or two in the quaint 

 little building behind his dwelling, where were stored his rich 

 treasures of butterflies, locusts and fossils, and his library of scientific 

 works." That his scientific reputation was high is abundantly evident 

 when we find that at the time of his decease he was an honorary 

 member of societies in London (to which he was elected in the year 

 1895), Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Brussels, the Hague, Geneva, 

 Madrid, Argentina, as well as many in North America. 



We are told that he spent fully twenty-five years in the study of 

 the life-histories of butterflies and in the collection of information, 

 before he produced his epoch-making work. The Butterfiies of the 

 Eastern IJmted States and Canada, in 1888-9. This magnificent work 

 consists of three quarto volumes, illustrated with a large number of 

 excellent plates and maps, showing all species of butterflies found in 

 the area, their various stages, details of structure, and specific and 

 generic distribution. It is no exaggeration to note that without the 

 example set by Dr. Scudder in this work, it is more than probable that 

 the volumes of British Lepidoptera would not "have taken the line they 

 did. The late Mr, J. W. Tutt more than once remarked to me that it 



