( xlvii ) 



volume of the ' Handbucli der Entomologie,' by which 

 Burmeister established his fame as a patient and able writer, 

 was published in 1832, when its author was only twenty-five 

 years old. An English translation of this work was under- 

 taken by Shuckard and appeared in 1836, and formed an 8vo 

 volume of 654 pages, illustrated by thirty-two plates, relating 

 mostly to structural and anatomical characters. Four more 

 volumes of the 'Handbuch' were pubhshed, the last in 1847, 

 which dealt with the systematic portion of his subject. This, 

 however, was never completed, for its author having become 

 involved in the politics of that stormy period (he had been 

 elected a deputy by his fellow citizens to the short-hved 

 National Assembly), he obtained two years' leave of absence 

 from the university. Proceeding to Brazil, he joined Lund, 

 the well-known Scandinavian naturalist at Lagoa Santa in 

 the province of Minas Geraes. Here he had the misfortune 

 to break his leg, and was carefully nursed by Lund and the 

 late Prof. Reiuhardt of Copenhagen, who happened to be 

 there at the time. Though lame for the rest of his life, 

 Burmeister nevertheless pursued his explorations, sending 

 large collections to the Halle Museum. The ' Systematische 

 Uebersicht der Thiere Brasiliens ' and the ' Erlauterungen 

 zur Fauna Brasihens ' were the outcome of this period. 



In 1858 he traversed the Andes to Chih by way of Mendoza, 

 and returned to Europe via Panama and the West Indies. 

 During a short stay in his old home at Halle he published his 

 ' Eeise durch die La Plata- Staaten ' in two volumes, which 

 still remains a standard work on the Vertebrates of the 

 Argentine Republic. Returning to Buenos Ayres, Burmeister 

 devoted himself for the remainder of his life chiefly in 

 studying and describing the wonderful fossil iriammalia 

 of the tertiary deposits of the Argentine RepubHc, the results 

 being published in the ' Anales del JVIuseo PubHco de Buenos 

 Aires,' in a series of papers illustrated by well-executed 

 plates, prepared from the author's own drawings. Durmg 

 this long period Burmeister still continued his interest m 

 Entomology, and in 1879-80 he published in his 'Descnption 

 Physique de la Republicpe Argentine ' two parts devoted to 

 the Lepidoptera of his adopted country. 



