14 



collected and the larva reared in confinement, producing a small moth closely resembling 

 Sericoris inMrutana. When or where the egg is laid has not been discovered. The young 

 larv« may be found in the leaf stalks of the Buckeye tree from the 2nd to about the 8th 

 of May. After spending a few days in this secure retreat, it comes out and dwells for 

 the rest of its caterpillar life in the dying leaf at the top of the stem upon which it feeds ; 

 after thus feeding for about a fortnight it passes into the chrysalis state, from which in 

 about ten days more it emerges a moth. 



The President then read his annual address. 



president's address. 



Gentlemen, — I regret exceedingly that I am compelled to begin my address by the 

 recital of a melancholy event in the history of our Section. 



About ten days after our adjournment last year, and after probably we had ail 

 arrived at home and settled down to our autumn's work, the distressing intelligenct^ 

 reached us of the sudden death of one of our most honoured and distinguished members. 

 He had mingled with us at Boston and had taken part in our deliberations, and though 

 cheerful and full of hope, yet his usually buoyant temperament was plainly mellowed by 

 advancing years, the every-day anxieties of life, and the pressure of severe intellectual 

 pursuits. He returned home after our adjournment and immediately resumed his 

 linguistic studies with his usual incessant ardour, for he often said to me : " I never take 

 exercise when I am at home, but work all day and sometimes late into the night," and on 

 the 1st of September, 1880, Samuel Stehman Haldeman was suddenly stricken do\\-ii. 

 His lamented death bas been noticed in most of the leading papers and scientific journals 

 of the country, accompanied with some biographical facts, for he was widely known as a 

 scholar and a scientist, and no man was more highly esteemed as a companion and gentle- 

 man. We all are aware of the distinction he achieved in letters and science in our own 

 and foreign countries, of the learned books and papers he has written, and of the titles 

 and prizes which his works secured for him. 



If this were the proper place, it would be pleasing to dwell, even at length, upon the 

 many valuable traits of his character, the vast extent of his diversified acquirements, and 

 his almost unparalleled qualities as a friend and scientific fellow-labourer. I feel as if I 

 w^ere announcing the death and reciting the admirable virtues of a brother. For forty 

 years he and I were what may properly be called " bosom friends." In early life we 

 were engaged in similar scientific pursuits, and living but a few hours' distance from each 

 other, our mutual visits were frequent, and our warmest friendship and confiding inter- 

 course continued uninterrupted to the end. 



It is well known that in early life he devoted much of his time to our favourite 

 science, to which he made some valuable contributions. His principal papers are : 

 Materials toward a History of Coleopterous Longicornia of the IJ. S. ; Corrections and 

 Additions to this paper ; Description of N. Am. Coleoptera ; Cryptocephalinorum Borel. 

 Am. Diagnosis. These papers give evidence of honest and painstaking research, patient 

 analysis and sharp discrimination, and are profitably consulted by investigators of the 

 present day. 



Of late years he had turned his attention particularly to the study of language, and 

 became a distinguished member of the Philological Society. All readers know the 

 celebrity he attained in that department, and the ardour with which he pursued those 

 studies ] but notwithstanding their engrossing attractions, he never ceased to feel an 

 interest in everything that concerned our department. It is hard for a man to forget his 

 first love. 



Thus much I thought it proper to say of the lamented Haldeman. He was no 

 ordinary man, whom you might compliment with a passing respectful obituary notice. In 

 science and letters he was a great man. His memory will be long cherished by admiring 

 friends. Idem extinctus amahitur.^' It may not be out of place to mention here one 

 fact to me, at least, personally interesting. Less than two months ago the monument of 

 Haldeman, chiselled out of enduring granite by Strecker, a brother Entomologist, was 



