Leng: John B. Smith as a Coleopterist 27 



instantaneous success. Each one received credit in its pages for 

 his part of the work, and, to succeeding generations, many of the 

 coleopterists of our generation will be known only by the suc- 

 cessful effort Smith made to bring to the surface their unpub- 

 lished information. As a coleopterist Smith must always stand 

 high, but to those who know him best, still higher as a friend, 

 as an instigator of more and better work, and as a captain under 

 whose banner one could proudly march. 



Subsequent to 1890 his active taxonomic work in Coleoptera 

 ceased; his ability in other directions brought to his hands work 

 of more important character than the preparation of synopses and 

 descriptions of obscure beetles, for such are after all only a means 

 to the end; how well that work was done remains to be told by 

 those more familiar with his career as an economic entomologist. 

 To the end of his life he kept in constant touch with the beetle 

 men, and that executive ability, which was perhaps his strongest 

 characteristic, is shown in the vast correspondence with coleopter- 

 ists preceding the publication of -the third edition of the "List of 

 New Jersey Insects," resulting in the correction of many of the 

 minor errors of previous editions. 



So that, while it cannot be said that Smith was purely a coleop- 

 terist, we can point out that papers on that order mark the begin- 

 ning of his career, and are among his most important works; and 

 that his influence on the study of beetles continued to the end of 

 his days ; and while commemorating all else that he did so well, 

 we must also enroll his name among those of the most capable 

 coleopterists, ever to be remembered, if for nothing else, for his 

 studies on the genitalia of Lachnosterna.^ 



^ For bibliography of Professor Smith's work in Coleoptera, see p. 32. 



