—s 
1883.] 297 {Horn 
papers to the Boston ‘Journal of Natural History,’”’ the former a mono- 
graph of Histeride, the d rawings for which were made by the son, the 
latter a small paper of little moment. 
The first paper by Dr. LeConte appeared in 1844, in the ‘‘ Proceedings of 
the Academy of Natural Sciences,” having been transmitted by the Ento- 
mological Society of Pennsylvania, an association with no permanent 
locality, consisting of, probably, not more than a half score of enthusiasts, 
who met at long intervals at the house of one or another. Among the num- 
ber we find the two Melsheimers, Ziegler and Haldeman, while the Rev, 
J. G. Morris, D.D., of Baltimore, alone survives to recount their history. 
The early papers by LeConte gave very little evidence of his analytical 
power until, in 1850, he published his “Monograph of Pselaphide,’’ pro- 
posing an arrangement which remains at present the basis of the general 
classification of these minute insects. In the same year appeared the com- 
mencement of his “ Attempt to Classify the Longicorn Coleoptera of Amer- 
1ca north of Mexico,” requiring several years in publication, a work of 
much wider application than indicated by its title, contributing much that 
Was new to science, and aiding greatly in the rational classification of these 
favorite beetles, 
From this period his contributions to entomology were for the most part 
monographic, and from their importance soon attracted attention abroad, 
many of them being reprinted in foreign journals, winning for their author 
the reputation he justly deserved. In their scope his papers cover nearly 
Pik portion of his specialty. They contain evidences of patient and 
original research, and added greatly to science. His work was in every 
case an improvement on what had previously been done ; he left a subject 
better than he found it, 
Several of his works call for special mention. In 1859 he collected the 
entomological works of Say, with notes on the species described, In this 
he was assisted in their Specialties by Baron Osten-Sacken and Mr, P. R. 
Uhier. The writings of Say were widely scattered in almost inaccessible 
publications, his typical collection almost entirely destroyed, and the spe- 
cies depended practically on traditional knowledge; and while some of 
re 4 4 ney yey . . . . 
Say’s cotemporaries were yet living LeConte gathered the information 
in by them, and placed it in permanent form. 
Res 
alizing that his Specialty needed greater assistance, he undertook, at 
the request of the Smithsonian Institution, the ‘‘Olassification of the Cole- 
optera of North America,”’ with the “List of Species,’’ and descriptions 
of new ones. The first parts appeared in 1861 and 1862 ; its continuation 
was interrupted by the war and his absence abroad. It was resumed in 
1878, but never completed, T 
he assistance thus given to students vastly in- 
creased their number 
» and the limited edition soon became exhausted, and 
it became necessary to decide either for a reprint or a new book. 
Befor > & new edition could be completed, it became imperative to study 
the Rhynchophora, and at this point LeConte made one of the boldest 
strokes of his career in the isolation of that series, and purposing a classi- 
PROC. AMER. PHILOS. 800, Xxr, 114.21, PRINTED JANUARY 10, 1884, 
