NOTES ON SOME OLD EUROPEAN COLLECTIONS. 
By H. T. FERNALD, Amherst, Mass. 
There seems to be little on record in this country about 
the older European collections of insects. Possibly the facts 
are more or less common knowledge, but if so, a rather careful 
search has failed to produce much of value. Yet in these 
days when types are coming into such prominence as the 
“court of last resort’’in our .attempts to finally establish 
specific identities, the location of these collections, their state 
of preservation and any facts which may enable workers to 
find the specimens they desire to examine, should be on record. 
The following notes are therefore offered in the hope that 
they may be of some use at least, to those who expect to study 
abroad. 
The collection of Linné as including the first insects to 
which the binary nomenclature was applied, is of much interest. 
This collection appears to be now in part at Upsala and 
in part at London. The material at Upsala was for many 
years at the royal castle Drottningholm, but in 1803 what 
remained was sent to the Academy of Science at Upsala by 
Gustav Adolph IV, where it was arranged and labelled by Lin- 
naeus’ student, Thunberg. This was probably the portion 
which constituted the collection belonging to the Queen of 
Sweden, and of which Clerck illustrated the Lepidoptera in 
his Icones Insectorum, and to judge from this, and such state- 
ments as are available, consisted only of Lepidoptera. 
In the zoological museum of the University of Upsala 
are two wooden cases of Linnaean Hymenoptera which have 
recently been examined by Schulz (Berl. Ent. Zeits., LVII, 
55, 1912), and reported upon. 
Linné’s private collection was sold by his wife after the 
death of her son in 1783, to Dr. James E. Smith, of England, 
for one thousand guineas. It consisted of his books, cor- 
respondence, insects and plants, and reached London in 1784. 
In 1788, due largely to the influence of Smith, the Linnaean 
Society was established, and this material is now in charge 
of this society which is located at Burlington House, Piccadilly, 
89 
