PSYCHE 



SOME OLD CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN HARRIS. SAY AND 



PICKERING.— V. 



[HARRIS TO SAY.] 



Milton, May 15, 1S25. 



Dear Sir, 



By the enclosed letter you 

 will see that I had not neglected to 

 write in reply to yours of January last, 

 though I have delayed to send my 

 answer until this time. 



I regret that unforeseen obstacles 

 have occurred, which will prevent my 

 contemplated visit to Philadelphia this 

 spring, and that I must relinquish, for 

 the present, my project of consulting; 

 you in person respecting a description of 

 the insects of this vicinity. 



My collection contains nearly all the 

 native species that are to be found in the 

 cabinet of Prof. Peck, besides many 

 others which are not there. I have also 

 in keeping a small case of insects, col- 

 lected near Boston by a friend. From 

 these it was my intention to have 

 selected, for your examination, speci- 

 mens of all those which I had not 

 already sent you ; in order both to indi- 

 cate to you what species were natives of 

 the environs of Boston, and to inform 

 myself by what names they had been 

 described. Although disappointed in 

 nry wish of exhibiting these to you in 

 person, I cannot feel contented to 

 remain in my present state of ignorance, 



and perhaps incur the risk of publishing, 

 as nondescripts, insects which you or 

 other late entomologists have already 

 described. I will therefore encroach 

 still further on your goodness by send- 

 ing the case containing these insects for 

 inspection at your leisure, if any you can 

 afford from the various pursuits in 

 which you are engaged. I shall wait 

 until I hear from you before I presume- 

 to put your goodwill & patience to this 

 test ; and, if your answer be favorable 

 to my wishes, I will forward them by 

 water, to be returned in the same way 

 when you have completed your exam- 

 ination of them. I would not request 

 this of you were not many of the species 

 unique specimens, or such as are en- 

 trusted to me by my friend. Those, of 

 which I have duplicates, I shall distin- 

 guish in a particular manner, & shall beg 

 of you to retain, if desirable. 



I have received from Northampton, 

 (a town in Mass. on Connecticut River) 

 an insect which I presume to be the 

 Cremastocheilits casta lie cc of Knoch. 

 In the month of September last great 

 numbers appeared on a hill in that town 

 which is wooded with Chestnut trees. 

 The specimen is nine twentieths of an 

 inch long, & nearly 5 twentieths of an 

 inch across the humeral portion of the 

 elytra. It is entirely black, scabrous. 



