74 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society Voi. viii 



families, as now constituted, are the Cleridae, Trogositidae and 

 Cryptophagidae. The checklist contains 95 of his species and 24 

 genera, excluding all synonyms. 



Of the groups separated by Latreille those which still stand 

 as families the list is Gyrindae, Nitidulidae, Lucanidae, Rhipi- 

 ceridae, Tenebrionidae, Cistelidae, Oedemeridae, Anthicidae, 

 Pyrochroidae, Chrysomelidae, Coccinellidae and Curculionidae. 

 The last was held to include almost all rhyncophorous beetles, 

 until in 1876 Leconte and Horn made the divisions as they are 

 generally regarded to-day. 



During this period the beetle collections of the 

 Leach British Museum became richly stocked under the cura- 

 torship of Wm. Elford Leach. This enthusiastic student 

 lived from 1790 to 1836, almost exactly contemporaneous with 

 Say. His death occurred in Italy, from colera. Of American 

 material Leach determined only three new species, but he differ- 

 entiated 24 new genera applicable to America. In the major 

 classification the families to bear his name are: Cicindelidae, 

 Carabidae, Hydrophilidae, Silphidae, Scydmaenidae, Staphy- 

 linidae, Histeridae, Mycetophagidae, Byrrhidae, Buprestidae, 

 Elateridae, Lampyridae, Lymexylidae, Ptinidae, Melandryidae, 

 Mordellidae, Endomychidae and Cerambycidae. This last, of 

 course, is little more than a nominal change from the Longicomia 

 of Latreille. Similarly the Scarabaeidae, credited to Erichsoi], 

 is no great change from the Lamellicornia of Latreille. 



Wm. Sharp MacLeay published entomological papers from 

 1819 to 1843. He was a well-to-do amateur in the Government 

 service, and a good controversialist, but his scheme of classifica- 

 tion lost weight in comparison with the broader work of Erich- 

 son. It is said anent his mild manners that a contradiction sent 

 him into tears and a rebuff put him into a sick bed. A few years 

 after the Society was formed, he Went as a Government official 

 to Van Diemen's Land, where he spent the rest of his life. 



MacLeay has 3 American species and 9 genera. His fam- 

 ilies are the Dyticidae,* Pselaphidae, Scaphidiidae, Pamidae, and 

 Heteroceridae. 



* The genus Dytiscus of Linne was so spelled by a printer's error which 

 survived proof reading. The word is the Greek Dyticus, a diver. The 

 proper spelHng has been adopted by Encycl. Brit., nth ed. 



