December, 1913 Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 115 



ciety of Pennsylvania. In 1848 he offered his catalogue to the 

 Smithsonian Institution of Washington for publication. The 

 mss. were submitted to Dr. S. S. Haldeman, of the University 

 of Pennsylvania, and Dr. J. L. Leconte. Both authorities, not 

 only advised its publication, but volunteered to bring it up to 

 date (1851) and to see it safely through the press. It was 

 brought out in July, 1853, and remained the standard, in fact 

 the only list until the publication of the checklist of Crotch in 

 1873. Species in the Melsheimer list are not numbered, but 

 the original description is in every case cited, and there is 

 included a fairly satisfactory synonymy. Its historical 

 value cannot be easily overestimated. The species credited 

 to Melsheimer in the Henshaw list are 220, but no distinction is 

 made between the three men. In the Melsheimer catalogue 

 they are divided. 



When Ziegler died his collection was bought by Louis Agas- 

 siz for a song. It contained 11,887 specimens, of which 6,262 

 were American of 1,794 species. Agassiz also bought the col- 

 lection of the three Melsheimers, paying only $150. This con- 

 tained 14,474 specimens, 10,272 American of 2,200 species. 

 The types of both collections were all loaned to Leconte, who 

 wrote in 1875 that he possessed all types of Haldeman, Mel- 

 sheimer and Ziegler. All now are safe at Cambridge. Zieg- 

 ler's labels were large and awkward. A Museum attendant 

 threw them away, substituting the neatly written label "Zieg." 

 This nameless man is now past all danger of lynching. The 

 specimens of the eldest Melsheimer are mounted with common 

 brass pins. The specimens of J. F. Melsheimer cannot be so 

 distinguished, but many of them carry Say labels. F. E. Mel- 

 sheimer used exclusively Carlsbad pins, a little shorter than 

 usual. 



Edward Doubleday, lepidopterist, of the British Museum, the 

 reputed inventor of the delightful pursuit of sugaring for 

 moths, visited this country, spending most of his time visiting 

 Dr. Harris in Cambridge. His namesake. Dr. Harris' ninth 

 child was born in 1839, and is now a specialist in the Cicin- 

 delidse and a leading member of the New York Entomological 

 Society. 



In 1842 Dr. Harris wrote to a friend that his collection was 

 not only the best in the United States, but was the only one of 



