Feb.. 1Q13 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 39 



Wc must bear in mind that transportation was slow in tliosc 

 days, and beetle coUeetors on this side not enthusiastic. Our 

 people were too busy in the fi,i;ht for existence to pick u]) useless 

 "bugs." In 1800 less than 400 species of American coleoptera 

 had been described, and for thirty years after that no European 

 entomologist visited our shores. Occasionally mistakes were 

 made. Drury received about the same time two boxes of 

 specimens, one from Jamaica, West Indies, and the other from 

 the partly wooded pasture land where now stands the terminus 

 of Brooklyn Bridge and Plymouth Church. He confused the two. 

 One Brooklyn type to this day bears the name jamaicensis. A 

 cruel joke was played on Linne. A friend sailing for Surinam 

 sent him all specimens collected on shipboard, which should be 

 localized at Holland, the starting point. Silvanus surinamensis, 

 the cosmopolitan granary pest, is one of many species to immor- 

 talize this foolish jest. Linne was almost killed by a chagrined 

 collector who had a specimen of the nine-headed hydra, the 

 stitches in which Linne was the first to discover. 



Linne's pupils spread all over Europe. Within a few years 

 a coterie of Frenchmen under the leadership of the dis- 

 Geoff. tinguished Professor Geoff roy de Ste. Hilaire under- 

 took a catalogue of the insects to be found around Paris. 

 Through this undertaking Olivier became known. He, too, 

 wrote American friends for material, and added 87 Ameri- 

 Oliv, can species to the described list. He found a patron. 

 Count Dejean, the first great amateur collector. Dejean 

 Dej. spent money freely, and made a great collection. Cara- 

 bidae of the world were his specialty and 182 American 

 species, with 19 genera, were described by him prior to 1822. 



Paris, however, was to contribute a greater name. During 

 the revolution a proscribed priest was marching under guard 

 to be transported to the penal settlement of New Caledonia. 

 On the march, stooping over, he picked up a beetle. It was the 

 "red legged ham beetle" originally described by Linne. He 

 remarked aloud, "This is a new genus." A prominent citizen, 

 in favor with the Government, overheard and accosted 

 him. The modest priest confessed that he knew a little about 

 beetles. His questioner was also interested and a friend of 



