1878,] 365 tUUer. 



Rev. R> C. Waterston presented a mounted specimen of 

 the Prairie Dog, which he had shown to the Society several 

 years ago, and which had lived up to the past summer, hav- 

 ing become very tame. 



The following paper was presented by title : — 



Notices of the Hemiptera Heteroptera in the Collec- 

 tion oe the late T\ W. Harris, M.'D. By P. E. Uhler. 



Through the kindness of Mr, Samuel H. Scudder, I have been 

 permitted to examine at leisure the precious remains of the collec- 

 tion of Dr. Harris, now belonging to the Boston Society of Natural 

 History. 



This collection is of especial interest at the present time, because 

 it is the only one preserved in this country which contains original 

 and authentic types of the Hemiptera described by Mr. Say and 

 other early American entomologists. The destruction, or dispersion, 

 of the collections of all our earlier entomologists left wide gaps in the 

 knowledge of their types, which could only be filled by a study of the 

 specimens of Dr. Harris. Much damage has occurred to the speci- 

 mens, and a few have been entirely destroyed by the voracity of 

 Trogoderma and Anthrenus-; but generally the parts remaining have 

 been enough to admit of comparison and to establish identity. The 

 present paper gives, therefore, the results of a close comparison and 

 study of every one of his specimens, in connection with others in my 

 own cabinet, or in those of friends who have kindly lent them to me 

 for this purpose. It embraces, as far as possible, a reduction of the 

 synonyms, and a reference of the species to the latest appropriate 

 genera. Dr. Harris had carefully labelled each form and variety 

 with a distinct number, and recorded in a manuscript catalogue such 

 information as he had gathered respecting their habitat, time of ap- 

 pearance, and habits; and these notes have all been introduced in 

 their proper places, distinguished by quotation marks. 



The present list includes in all 163 species, of which 125 have 

 been found in Massachusetts and the adjacent region, and about 35 

 in the Southern States. 



Massachusetts has many more species than are here enumeratedf 

 hut as they are not in this collection, and as no survey of her terri- 

 tory has yet included a systematic plan of collecting them, the mate- 



