Gyrinus

November 11.

Did Harris call the water-bug Gyrinus to-day ?

H. D. Thoreau, Journal, November 11, 1852

Harris. (Thaddeus William Harris 1795-1856: the librarian of Harvard University, and one of Thoreau's professors).See January 1, 1853 ('Sibley told me that Agassiz told him that Harris was the greatest entomologist in the world, and gave him permission to repeat his remark."); November 10, 1854 ("Got some donacia grubs for Harris, but find no chrysalids.")

The water-bug Gyrinus  Compare October 11, 1852 (" I could detect the progress of a water-bug over the smooth surface in almost any part of the pond, for they furrow the water slightly, making a conspicous ripple bounded by two diverging lines") with Walden ("You can even detect a water-bug (Gyrinus) ceaselessly progressing over the smooth surface a quarter of a mile off; for they furrow the water slightly, making a conspicuous ripple bounded by two diverging lines"). See    November 3, 1853 ("A small gyrinus in Nut Meadow Brook."). See also  A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Water-bug (Gyrinus) and Skaters (Hydrometridae)