73 The Smithsonian Institution 



The first publication was one of the " Smithsonian Con- 

 tributions to Knowledge," and appeared in 1850. It was on 

 "The Classification of Insects from Embryological Data," by 

 Louis Agassiz. 



The Coleoptera were generally studied in the early days 

 of the Institution, as they still are. A " Catalogue of the 

 described Coleoptera of the United States" (1853), by F. E. 

 Melsheimer, led the way. Long afterward it was succeeded 

 by instalments of a " Classification of the Coleoptera of 

 North America," by Doctor John L. Le Conte (Part i, 1862 ; 

 part 2, 1873), an d a " List of the Coleoptera of North Amer- 

 ica" (1866), by the same naturalist. It was not until 1883 

 that Doctor Le Conte, with the cooperation of Doctor G. H. 

 Horn, completed the " Classification of the Coleoptera of 

 North America." 



"New Species of North American Coleoptera" were also 

 described by Le Conte in two instalments, the first of which 

 was published in 1863, and the second in 1873. 



A "Contribution to Knowledge" of the faunal regions and 

 geographical distribution was published by Le Conte under 

 the title of "The Coleoptera of Kansas and Eastern New 

 Mexico" (1859). 



The Lepidoptera form another order which received spe- 

 cial attention from the Smithsonian Institution. 



A " Catalogue of the described Lepidoptera of North 

 America" (1860) was not long afterward followed by a 

 "Synopsis of the described Lepidoptera of North America" 

 (1862) ; both of these were compiled by the Reverend Doc- 

 tor John Morris. The first part of the Synopsis, including 

 the diurnal and crepuscular Lepidoptera, was the only one 

 published. 



The labors of the student who would seek to know what 

 has been published respecting the early stages of Lepidop- 



