BRATJER AND MIK 
179 
characters founded upon the structure of the forceps ( [hypopygium ) 
of Mycetophilidae for generic and specific descriptions. An unde¬ 
served praise is bestowed on Bigot’s very insignificant paper on 
Acantliomeridae (Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1882, p. 453-460) : “This 
paper offers a clear account of this remarkable family of Diptera.” 
A slight criticism which Mik ventured against Bigot ( Wiener Ent. 
Zeit., 1883, p. 65) is immediately redeemed by praise: “A zealous 
and meritorious dipterologist, whom I highly esteem, and intend to 
prove by having the honor to dedicate to him an interesting species 
of the genus Dolichopus." But after Bigot’s death we find Mik 
describing him (ibid., 1897, p. 170) as being “in systematic ques¬ 
tions very badly informed ” (“ dass er gerade in der Systematic selir 
schlecht orientiert war”). 
My attempt to introduce a psychological and moral element into 
entomological criticism found no favor with Mik. However, he 
expressed his opinion with great caution and in a rather disguised 
manner. In a notice of his (Wiener Ent. Zeit., 1898, p. 71) about 
Abb6 Ivieffer’s attack upon Mr. Riibsaamen, Mik introduced a pas¬ 
sage that evidently refers to a paper of mine, published a short time 
before, concerning the two editions of Loew’s first Essay (“ Erst- 
lingsarbeit ”) on the Diptera of Posen (Osten Sacken, in the Berl. 
Ent. Zeit., 1896, p. 279-284 ; 153, 1896). The comparison of these 
two editions convinced me that Loew had been prompted to publish 
the second (almost identical) edition in Oken’s Isis, in conse¬ 
quence of a feeling of rivalry towards Zeller, whose admirable first 
paper on Diptera had just appeared in the same periodical. That 
some of the expressions in Mik’s passage, which I reproduce 
here, are covert allusions to my paper nobody will contest who ex¬ 
amines the matter with some attention. This quotation I must 
give in the original German, as its obscurity, amounting to inepti¬ 
tude, prevents me from making an adequate translation: — 
“Bei dieser Gelegenheit wollen wir nicht unerwahnt lassen, dass in 
neuester Zeit in der entomologischen Wissenschaft Streitschriften fast rein 
personlicher Natur in bedenklicher Zahl zu Tage treten. Man bemerkt 
darin leider eine fdrmliche Sittenrichterei, die sich herausnimmt, dera Cha¬ 
racter der Personen nahe zu treten ! Ja selbst die Todten werden nicht ge- 
schont ! Der aufmerksame Leser der entomologischen Literatur wird mir 
