808 - DUFOUR, Léon (1780–1865), French entomologist, arachnologist, and botanist. Signed autograph letter. Saint-Sever, in the Landes region, July 22, 1860. 3 pp. ¼ in-8.

DUFOUR, Léon (1780–1865), French entomologist, arachnologist, and botanist. Signed autograph letter. Saint-Sever, in the Landes region, July 22, 1860. 3 pp. ¼ in-8. An interesting scientific letter on the anatomy of the Ascalaphus, to be included in the annals. “[…] An insect I had never seen alive, the Ascalaphus, fell into my hands, and despite my scalpel and brush being eighty years old, I set to work on its anatomy […].” He requests that an excerpt from his work be read at the Academy of Sciences and mentions his forthcoming “Galéodes” and his Saharan “scorpions,” then requests the return of the original drawings and the monograph on the Galéodes, as well as assistance from zoologists Duméril and Audoin and the drawings of his beetles, etc. Dufour is planning to attend the Botanical Congress in Grenoble, then travel to Geneva and Montpellier. He mentions the paleontological work of his correspondent’s son and offers to accompany him and provide lodging. “If you deem it appropriate to bring my illustrations to the attention of the zoologists at the Academy, I grant you full authority.”