72 Btilletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Voi. viii 



required in 1828. A sixth covered only two volumes in 1843. 

 Mr. Kirby was then in his 83rd year and could not continue 

 it. It should be needless to say that the book brought compara- 

 tive wealth to both authors. 



In 1824 Kirby was in communication with Thomas Say, in 

 Philadelphia and later at New Harmony. All England had a 

 scare over the Hessian fi}^ and there was no one to identify the 

 beast except Say. In 1826 Kirby received a reply to a letter 

 sent to Prof. Peck at Cambridge. It announced Peck's death 

 and was signed Thaddeus William Harris. Learning that the 

 latter was a son of Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, author of a 

 "Natural History of the Bible," a well known work, he began 

 active correspondence. Dr. Harris wrote in 1828 of planning 

 to write a "Faunula Insectorum Bostoniensis. " The Fenton 

 collection had about 3,000 local species but there was a lamentable 

 scarcity of books. 



In 1833 the Entomological Society of London 

 Hope was formed, with Rev. Francis Hope,* author of the 



" Coleopterist's Manual," as its first president. 

 Hope was a member of a famous family and a man of wealth. 

 Leconte compares his collection, for quality, if not also for size, 

 with that of Dejean, and Dejean had nearly 23,000 species of 

 beetles, to say nothing of lepidoptera and other orders. Hope 

 afterwards bought Dejeans's lepidoptera, which with his own 

 collection, library, and a special legacy of £20,000 was left to 

 Oxford University. 



Kirby hesitated about supporting the new organization, 

 lest his beloved Linnean Society should suffer, but became 



promptly convinced that both were needed. Leach and 

 Stephens MacLeay were enthusiastic over it, as were J. F. 

 Clark Stephens, Rev. Hamlet Clark and John Curtis, of 



Curtis Arctic fame. t Stephens wrote a " British Entomology, " 



a notable work, published in parts, with colored plates, 

 from 1827 to 1845. He bought Marsham's collection, which, 

 with his own, went to the British Museum. Curtis published 

 his own work on British Entomology in 193 numbers, 16 volumes, 



* Hope figures in the checkHst with 2 species and 5 genera, 

 t In the checkUst Stephens is credited with 9 species and 39 genera and 

 Curtis with 7 genera. 



