Xii. MEMOIR OP THOMAS SAT. 



misfortunes, which he attributed rather to adverse events, 

 than to a want of forecast in himself, or a defect in the fun- 

 damental principles of the association. 



But Mr. Say had become involved for life. He had mar- 

 ried ; he had accepted the agency of the property, the du- 

 ties of which compelled him to a residence there ; he had 

 no other means of support but what the bounty of his pa- 

 tron, Mr. Maclure, afforded him ; he, therefore, sat himself 

 down with his usual composure, to await the turn of events, 

 appropriating all his moments of leisure to his favourite pur- 

 suits ; and not allowing a thought of the future to disturb 

 the equanimity of his mind. 



The health of Mr. Say, when he retired from Philadel- 

 phia, was far from being good ; from causes which shall be 

 hereafter stated, his stomach had lost its natm*al tone ; and 

 he found that the climate of the Wabash was by no means 

 adapted to restore vigour to a constitution which had been 

 enfeebled by the repeated attacks of dysenteric affections. 

 Had he been free to follow the advice of his medical friends, 

 or to yield to the affectionate solicitations of his relations, 

 he would have returned to the more genial climate of his 

 native city ; where the salubrity of the air, the comforts of 

 life, and the charms of society, would have doubtless contri- 

 buted, in no small degree, if not to the entire renovation of 

 health, at least to the prolonging of a life which had not yet 

 passed its maturity. But a sense of duty predominating 

 over the ties of kindred, and the claims of friendship, in- 

 duced him to remain, where he became a sacrifice to a fever, 

 which carried him off on the 10th of October, 1834, in the 

 forty-seventh year of his age. 



It is not necessary that I should take up the time of the 

 Society in a detail of Mr. Say's various writings ; I shall, 

 therefore, confine myself to a few remarks upon the general 

 character of them, in order that those of our members, who 

 are not naturalists, may be enabled, to form some idea of 

 their nature and importance. 



His principal work, entitled "American Entomology," is 



