This small volume records excerpts from British natural philosophy and scientific journals, written sometime after 1799. It covers a wide range of subjects, from astronomy to zoology.

The approximately 3,700 color and black and white drawings were collected and drawn by John Lawrence LeConte, with two in the first volume are by Titian R. Peale, but most are likely by John Abbot. The previous description noted that there are some drawings by John Abbot, and that most were likely by John Lawrence Le Conte. However, John V. Calhoun has shown extensive evidence that most of the drawings are by John Abbot (John Abbot's "Lost" Drawings for John E. LeConte in the American Philosophical Society Library, Philadelphia. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 60(4), 2006, 211-217). The contents of the collection: 1. Coleoptera. 654 figures. 2. Diptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera. 564 figures. 3. Coleoptera. 698 figures. 4. Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. 228 figures. 5. Coleoptera. 657 figures. 6. Hymenoptera and Diptera. 234 figures 7. Diptera. 304 figures. 8. Hemiptera, Araneina, Myripoda. 356 figures

Consists of material chiefly on natural history, shells, and insects, including miscellaneous notes on conchology by Say; photostats of 6 letters from Say to Jacob Gilliams, 1819-1829, from Morristown, New Jersey; and a biographical note on Say. The drawings and impressions of shells are by Mrs. Lucy Way Sistaire Say, prepared for W. G. Binney's edition of Say's complete works on conchology, 1858; also Mrs. Say's refutation of what she considered an unfair attack in George Ord's memoir of Say. Correspondents include André Etienne Férussac, Arthur F. Gray, John Lawrence LeConte, and Charles W. Short. An additional item is a memorial volume (ca. 150 pp.), including a family genealogy and land surveys in watercolor (B Sa95f).

These papers reflect Isaac Hays' interests and activities in the medical profession and as an editor. His interest in paleontology, especially in the controversy with G. W. Featherstonhaugh, is also represented. There is one separate volume (77 letters) containing correspondence about natural history and naturalists, written to Hays by C. L. Bonaparte, George Ord, Thomas Say, and Charles A. Lesueur. The correspondence in the larger collection, however, contains much material on the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, particularly illuminated in the correspondence with John D. Godman. The I. Minis Hays material consists of letters from doctors, relating to medicine and medical publications and editing, as well as medical organizations. Most significant of the correspondence is that with John Shaw Billings (ca. 60 letters).