Notices respecting New Books. 369 



in the progress of the work: they will be arranged, as far as pos- 

 sible, according to their affinities. For the second plate, those sub- 

 jects will be chiefly selected which form types of genera ; and they 

 will, in most cases, be accompanied by dissections. On the third 

 and fourth plates the history of the metamorphosis will be eluci- 

 dated, and they will likewise contain additional generic illustra- 

 tions and dissections. 



As to the plan of the descriptive part, a very concise outline can 

 only be given in this place. The arrangement proposed to be fol- 

 lowed, and the constitution of the higher divisions, namely of tribes 

 and stirpes, are explained in the Introduction. These are defined 

 from a review of the whole order : but the sections indicated either 

 in the stirpes or in the genera are provisional only, as they are re- 

 gulated by the extent of the collection. A detailed generic cha- 

 racter is given in the Latin language ; this is followed immediately 

 by a somewhat amplified description in English. Every species is 

 distinguished by the generic and specific name at length. This is 

 followed by a Latin description, in technical language, intended to 

 exhibit a concise but accurate delineation, sufficiently minute to 

 afford the means of precise discrimination from all other species. 

 In the English description of new species the object is to give a 

 full history of the external character in all its details. It is not 

 consistent with Dr. Horsfield's present plan to give specific cha- 

 racters according to the Linnaean models : these belong, in his opi- 

 nion, to works in which a general comparison of species contained 

 in extensive collections, enables the writer to define the characters 

 with a precision and confidence which cannot be obtained in the 

 examination of a merely local collection. 



The detailed specific descriptions will be followed, in most cases, 

 by a series of miscellaneous observations. In these it is the au- 

 thor's chief object to illustrate the history of those. individuals 

 which he has traced through their various stages of existence, and 

 of which the collection contains representations in their larva and 

 pupa states. The arrangement projected for this work being 

 founded primarily on the metamorphosis of the insects of this 

 order, this part of the subject will be found to have an important 

 bearing on the whole. These observations will also afford the ne- 

 cessary explanations of the figures contained in the third and 

 fourth plates, and they will lead to the detail of the remarks made 

 on the food of the larvae, the season of the year when found, their 

 abundance or scarcity, and to such other peculiarities as may have 

 been noticed in Java. Under this head, he will also give an ac- 

 count of the state of the collection regarding the materials from 

 which the descriptions have been made, with the view to illustrate 

 many doubtful or imperfectly known species. The public or private 

 collections in the British metropolis, in which the species described 

 may have been observed, will also be indicated ; and finally their 

 range through other parts of India : and in the whole of these mis- 

 cellaneous observations, as well as in the generic and specific de- 



New Series. Vol. 3. No. 17. May 1828. 3 B scriptions, 



