34 THE REPORT OF THE [19 



Thus it will be seen that, whatever collections had been made in America, these were 

 in foreign hands, and the descriptions published in foreign literature, and it was uuder 

 these conditions that the present century found the science of entomology. But, two 

 event3 had transpired which, though giving no indication of their future effect, were to 

 start the science, both pure and applied, in that forward movement that has resulted in 

 its present condition. 



On July 27th, 1787, there was born in Philadelphia, to Benjamin Say and wife, a 

 son, who was afterwards named Thomas. On November 12th, 1795, in Dorchester, 

 Massachusetts, there was born to Thaddeus Mason Harris and wife, a son, who was after- 

 wards named Thaddeus William. The first of these was the son of a Quaker phjsician 

 and apothecary, and the other the son of a Congregational minister. With these two 

 lads, who at that time pave little indication of their future greatness, and the state of 

 affairs that I have indicated in the foregoing, began what might well be termed the first 

 century of American entomology. 



Ere the present century had been ushered iD, there had been serious depredations of 

 insects, and now, with the establishment of an agricultural press there came communica- 

 tions and discussions regarding the nature of the insects implicated in these ravages. 

 These contributions came from both the north and the south, and westward from beyond 

 the Allegheny Mountains, but there was none to throw scientific light upon any of the 

 problems involved. No one to identify the species of insects that were engaged in depre- 

 dations, or to furnish the information that would enable the people to understand their 

 habits, or to determine whether there were one or several kinds engaged in the work of 

 destruction. There was chaos. Who was there that would from out of this bring system 

 and order ? 



The boy, Thomas Say, had proved an indifferent pupil ; had been taken from school 

 and placed in his father's shop ; then started in business and ended in bankruptcy. 

 From boyhood he had taken the greatest delight in collecting insects and he now turned 

 his back as it were on business and began the work that was to make his name familiar 

 throughout the world where natural science was studied, and give him the well-earned 

 title of " The Father of American Entomology." About 1817 he began to publish the 

 results of his studies and continued up to the time of his death in 1834. Though his 

 work was incomplete and has been in some cases criticised for its want of accuracy, yet 

 it was the foundation of the technical branch of the science in America. 



The boy Thaddeus W. Harris, on the contrary, seeirs to have been studious but not 

 at all inclined towards natural science. While at Harvard, from 1811 to 1815, he seems 

 to have developed a taste for entomology which appears to have been stimulated by his 

 friend and instructor, Professor Peck. It is interesting to note that his studies, even at 

 an early date, began to take a somewhat different course from those of Thomas Say in 

 that he became interested in the habits of the insects which he studied. He began to 

 collect insects as early as 1820 and, as he tells us, soon became impressed with the great 

 need of a manual of American entomology. This was doubtless the primitive idea that 

 later led up to his work that has become classical, viz., his "Insects Injurious to Vege- 

 tation;" published in 1841 and reprinted in 1842, and again in a revised form in 1852. 

 Though this embodied the results of long years of patient labor under the most discour 

 aging circumstances, the author received from the State for his labor the munificent sunk 

 of $175.00. This work was to the applied science what Say's American Entomology was 

 to the pure, viz., the foundation; and if Thomas Say was the " Father of Technical 

 Entomology," then T. W. Harris is fully entitled to the honor of being called the " Father 

 of Applied Entomology " iu America. To these two men we owe the inspiration that 

 has induced many an entomologist to commence his studies and encouraged him and sus- 

 tained him in his later work. They were the pioneers of that period extending from 

 1800 to the death of Say in 1834, and and in the case of Harris this period continued up 

 to 1855, his last paper on the Rose Bug (Macrodactylus subspinosus) appearing in the 

 Boston Cultivator on September 8 of that year. It was Dr. Asa Gray, I believe, that 

 wrote of Harris : " Of other genuine naturalists I have read but he is the only one I 

 ever saw." 



