246 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Oct., '03 



possibility of determining, in a body found in the woods, the 

 length of time since death by the condition and species of 

 Diptera inhabiting the remains. This gradually led him into 

 a study of the Muscidse {sensu stricto), and especially the Cal- 

 liphorinse, which were at that time in a chaotic condition in this 

 country. Dr. Hough at once seized the problem in a charac- 

 teristic manner, by procuring from the best European authori- 

 ties a large collection of the European Muscidse, accurately 

 named, at the same time acquiring large quantities of North 

 American material. Bringing the two faunas together he 

 almost at a stroke settled the question of the identity of our 

 species, or their non-identity, and thus succeeded in a very 

 short time, by following the correct method, in placing our 

 commoner Muscidae on a sound basis of classification. 



Along with this, he had been acquiring European and Ameri- 

 can Anthomyidae, but here he followed a different method suited 

 to the greater difficulty of the subject. After borrowing several 

 American collections to put with his own very large one, he sent 

 the whole to P. Stein, Genthin,' Prussia, one of the leading stud- 

 ents of the family. Stein published an extensive paper on the 

 species sent him (Bed. Ent. Zeitsch., XEII, 161-288), in which 

 he described many new species, and, what was of even greater 

 importance recognized a considerable number of European 

 forms. This paper really lays the foundation of a classifica- 

 tion of the North American Anthomyidae. Still further, Stein 

 became so much interested in the North American members of 

 the family that he spent several weeks in lyondon, at a later 

 time, studying the types of Walker's An thomyidse, and pub- 

 lished a full report on them (Zeitsch. f. Hym. u. Dipterologie, 

 1961, 185-221). These two papers cover the family so well 

 that, with some of the European literature for genera and for 

 species common to the two continents, the student is well pre- 

 pared to work on the family. 



Dr. Hough amassed a collection and library very rapidly. 

 He was a liberal purchaser of books and flies. His named 

 European Diptera amounted to over 1200 species some time 

 before he sold the collection. In his later work, he confined 

 himself to the Calyptrate and Acalyptrate Muscidse ; but not 



