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i 
1888, ] 299 [florn. 
framework of a systematic structure which he lived to see completed in all 
its parts. He reduced chaos to order. His influence in entomological 
progress in general is admitted on all hands, and so rapid has been the 
advance that we now have nearly as many purely entomological societies 
and clubs as there were interested individuals forty years ago. At that 
time the American literature consisted of very little beyond the works of 
Say; to-day five periodicals are devoted solely to entomology. 
Some idea of the actual work performed by LeGonte may be obtained 
from a summary recently published, in which more than five hundred 
genera and nearly five thousand species are placed to his credit, three- 
fourths in each series remaining valid. It would, however, be unfair to 
estimate the value of his work from a mere numerical basis ; others have 
done much more, but the systematic, analytical studies, spread over the 
vast field of Coleopterology, show the real power of his mind. While he 
was quick to perceive specific differences, he was not always happy in ex- 
pressing them ; in his analyses his reasoning was always clear without the 
slightest ambiguity. 
That his work has been appreciated at home and abroad is shown by the 
number of societies which have elected him to membership. Diplomas 
from fifteen American and seventeen Kuropean societies may be seen in 
his portfolio. Prominent among them are the diplomas of honorary mem- 
bership in the entomological societies of London, France, Berlin, Brussels 
and Stettin, an honor rarely conferred and given only to the most worthy. 
In 1874. LeConte was elected President of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, and his address on retiring, regarding the 
relation of the geographical distribution of Coleoptera to Paleontology, 
opened a new line of investigation, showing how a combination of the 
facts of two such dissimilar sciences might result in advantage to both. 
He was one of the founders of the American Hntomological Society, and 
at the time of his death its President ; of our own Society he was a Vice- 
President, and has been a member nearly thirty-one 
We all knew him as a cultured scholar, a refined gentleman, a genial 
companion, a true friend. ‘To me he was more. For nearly twenty-five 
years our association has been of the most intimate nature. I sought his 
advice and instruction as a neophyte in entomology, finding a welcome 
which T had no reason to except. Our friendship ripened to an intimacy 
never shadowed by the slightest cloud. My last visit to him, two days 
before his fatal attack, will never be forgotten ; bright, cheerful and much 
clearer in mind than he had been for weeks before, he seemed to have re- 
gained his mental and bodily strength, and gave me 
might for some time enjoy his society. 
days after, the change from brilliant intell 
was almost too great to realize. 
years, 
strong hopes that we 
When called to his bedside two 
ection to death-portending coma 
His life closed painlessly, without a 
struggle. A few short hours sufficed to extinguish a bright light in 
science, and inflict on us an irreparable loss. 
