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the Society must have felt it had struck a rich lode when it 

 discovered Mr. Blackburn. That was in the first year of his 

 membership, and from then until he died not a volume of 

 our Transactions has been issued which does not contain one 

 or more of his valuable contributions. A sort of statistical 

 curiosity prompted me to find out the extent to which he 

 has enriched our Proceedings, and I have counted at least 

 forty-one papers, extending over nearly 1,700 pages; so that 

 his scientific contributions would equal four volumes of 

 closely printed material of more than 400 pages each. One 

 paper during his first year covered 110 pages, and another in 

 1902, 114 pages. I think it probable he established a record 

 in our Society as to abundance of material supplied. The 

 quality of his work equalled the quantity. All his specific 

 definitions and descriptions are given in Latin, and to one 

 like myself, who is unacquainted with entomology, the par- 

 ticular department of natural history he studied, the whole 

 substance of his papers appears to be exact, clear, and 

 detailed, and written in cultured language, making his pro- 

 ductions equally classical and scientific. His contributions 

 can, as a rule, be picked out at a glance, because he fre- 

 quently employed a peculiar tabulated arrangement of his 

 numerous species in groups, which suggests the quaint poetic 

 composition of some aberrant genius, a strangely exaggerated 

 instance of versification after the style of the "Samson 

 Agonistes" of Milton, or "Alexander's Feast," by Dryden. 

 One marked example of this occurs in his paper of 1910, 

 where he discusses more than seventy species and gives their 

 specific diagnostics, spreading them over seven closely printed 

 pages, in lines which begin at different distances from the left- 

 hand margin, with a sinuous or a step-like outline, each 

 initialled by a single or double capital letter, each distance 

 and letter having its characteristic significance, so as to 

 indicate to the eye the several alliances and distinctions 

 between all the species in the group. This tabular arrange- 

 ment, so ingenious and effective, shows the thoroughness and 

 clearness of his knowledge of the subject, and must have 

 aided investigators who referred to it as much as, if not more 

 so, than it tried the capabilities of his linotype printer. 

 Mr. Mayo, who was for many years our Honorary Secretary, 

 informs me that to Mr. Blackburn probably more than any 

 other contributor to our Proceedings is due the wide exchange 

 our Transactions enjoy, for Entomological Societies, especi- 

 ally, sought to effect arrangements by which they might regu- 

 larly receive our annual volumes and obtain our back num- 

 bers. This is a practical testimony to his efficiency from ex- 



