PREFAC E. 



Mr. John Henry Leech, who was the eldest son of the late Mr. John Leech, of 

 Gorse Hull, Dukinfield, Cheshire, was bom on December 5th, 18(52, and died at his home, 

 Hurdeott House, near Salisbury, on December 29th, 1900. 



He was educated at Eton and at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where, he took his B.A. 

 degree. He was a Fellow of the Linnean, the Zoological, the Geographical, and the 

 Entomological Societies of London, and also a Member of several foreign Entomological 

 Societies. 



While at Cambridge he had the misfortune to lose his left hand bv the bursting of 

 his gun while partridge-shooting, but this scarcely interfered in any way with his activity. 

 Always an energetic sportsman, he continued to the end of his life to hold his own with 

 others, being an excellent shot and a very keen and expert trout-fisher. 



In 1889 he married the only child of Mr. Benjamin Leatt Nias, of Philadelphia, 

 U.S.A., by whom he left two children. 



Quite early in his life he exhibited interest in Natural History and found pleasure 

 in collecting and observing insects, especially butterflies, moths, and beetles. This 

 interest increased as he advanced towards manhood, and it was ever his desire to contribute 

 whatever he could to the advancement of Natural History knowledge. 



He had already formed a nice collection of Coleoptera, and a nearly complete one 

 of British Lepidoptera, the latter largely by his own exertions in the field. Actuated, no 

 doubt, by the perusal of Bates's ' Naturalist on the Amazons/ he started for Brazil in 1884. 

 The expedition up the country was, however, interrupted by fever and he had to return 

 to Para, whence he had set out, and where he afterwards stayed and made a good 

 collection of insects. This collection he did not retain after his return to England. 



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