70 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Voi. viii 



was in 16 volumes, with 566 little colored plates, published in 

 parts from 1792 to 1813. Drury was the Geo. Franck of his time, 

 the first dealer in insects. He abandoned his trade as a gold- 

 smith and opened a regular place of business, where he handled 

 not only lepidoptera but all insects and entomological supplies. 

 He had virtually a monopoly of the business for about thirty- 

 five years. He printed announcement cards in several lan- 

 guages, which he sent all over the world, offering to buy all exotic 

 insects larger than a honey bee at sixpence each. In 1800 his 

 stock on hand amounted to 11,000 species, but this, of course, 

 includes all orders. England, was never richer than in those 

 earlier years of the Napoleonic wars. 'A choice insect was a prize 

 indeed, and no one knows how many £5 notes Drury pocketed 

 for an equal number of showy butterflies. Donovan paid A2^ 

 guineas for a Goliathus, the Cetonian originally described as a 

 Scarabaeus. Drury 's final auction sale took place in 1805. Dono- 

 van wrote the catalogue, which Drury was physically unable to 

 do, his last illness being on him.. Things went, for once rather 

 cheaply. The entire proceeds were £614. This catalogue, 

 with all prices and the names of all buyers, is still preserved. 

 Men bragged for a generation afterwards of the bargains they 

 got at that time. When Francillon had to sell his collection 

 it fetched £726. Poor Kirby bought the Georgia beetles. Alex 

 MacLeay bought nearly half the collection. Two MacLeays 

 must not be confused. The "MacL. " of the check list is W. S. 

 Alex was a Government official and was secretary of the Linnean 

 Society until he went, in 1825, as Colonial Secretary to New Hol- 

 land, whence hfe sent home specimens to Hope and others for the 

 rest of his life. 



In 1805 Kirby became acquainted with Wm. Spence, his future 

 literary partner. A year later he began correspondence with 

 Gyllenhal. It may be remembered that when Linne 

 Gyll. was at Upsala the University sent out men to gather 

 natural history material from all parts of the world. 

 Kalm went to North America where he investigated the 17 -year 

 locust, Thunberg to China. When Thunberg succeeded Linne, 

 his best pupil was Leonard B. Gyllenhal. The younger man 

 served twenty years in the army, becoming major. Thereafter 

 he devoted his life to beetle study. The friend who brought 



