190 LETTERS FROM DR. HARRIS. 



and inclmed to accept the offer of your hospitality. There 

 are, however, circumstances that may prevent my going. 

 I have already x^romised to take some of my family to the 

 White Mountains, if possible, and the second edition of my 

 work on insects injurious to vegetation is now" passing 

 through the press, and the proofs come to me almost daily 

 for revision; both of which engagements render it incon- 

 venient, to say the least, for me to make another excursion 

 from home at present, I shall have no papers to read, and 

 no verbal communication of any interest to make to the 

 Association. 



You are probably aware that I have ceased to occupy 

 myself actively and regularly with subjects of Natural 

 History, and take it up occasionally only, and chiefly in 

 answer to communications or queries from correspondents 

 or visitors interested in agricultural or horticultural pur- 

 suits. 



There was nothing objectionable in your descriptions of 

 Lihythea Bachmanii and Macroglossa halteata^ and you 

 do right to publish descriptions of such new species as fall 

 in your way. 



You can much better do without such works as Donovan's 

 than without Drury's Illustrations, Avhich contain a consid- 

 erable number of North American insects. Westerwood's 

 edition of Drury's work is not very expensive. The various 

 entomological works of Fabricius are mdispensible, but 

 they have now become very rare, especially the series 

 entitled " Entomologia Systematica Emendata et Aucta^'^ 

 4 vols., 800 pp., and '''' Supplementtim^'' 1 vol. 



I forget whether you have Boisduval and Leconte on the 

 Lepidoptera of North America, which, though incomplete, 

 is valuable for the determination of our butterflies. Smith's 

 edition of Abbott's Lepidojytera of Georgia^ though full of 

 errors, is useful, and is an elegant show book. 



