P R E F A C K 



OF 



THE EDITOR. 



In the rapid advancer mcnt which the fciencc of Natural Milton* lias 

 experienced within a few years, the fvftcmatic iludv of Infects has 

 received an ample (bare of cultivation. BotanilU the inofl expert in 

 the principles of fcientific arrangement, haTC turned ihofe principles to 

 advantage in the other departments of Nature; for while the compre- 

 henfive and penetrating mind of Linnscus conceived and digefted the 

 plan of his Plnfofophia Ifotamca* his labours tended to no lefs than 

 the methodizing of all natural knowledge. The principles of that 

 immortal work appear throughout his zoological labours; and they 

 have been particularly applied to the Infect tribe by his pupil, the 

 celebrated Fabricius, whofe Phikpphia Etitemzhgiai has formed a 

 new epoch in the fciencc it i» calculated to teach. While he mar- 

 Hulled his new-foimd Iquadrons under the banners of his great pre- 

 ceptor, the riches of Nature flowed in on every fide upon the fchotor, 

 as they had formerly dotie u|xm the master, leaning to have been in 

 each inllance rcicned for a favourite oblcrver* 



Hut although the fyftcmatic arrangement of hileifts has of late been 



prodigioully advanced, the philnlbplrical flndy of their economy docs 



not appear to have been equally cultivated. The fplendid works of 



Clerck, Cramer, and Olivier, and the more exquilitc one of Drurv, do 



indeed difplav tlio complete infect in a degree of perfection (hat leaves 



b 



