WRITINGS ON INSECT ANATOMY. 5 



extraordinary feat, and will never be surpassed. Modern treatises 

 on Comparative Anatomy continue to reproduce some of these 

 figures, such as the general view of the viscera, the structure of 

 the leg, and the digestive tract. Nearly the whole interest of 

 the volume lies in the plates, for the text is little more than a 

 voluminous explanation of the figures. 



It is not without surprise that we find that Lyonnet was an 

 amateur, who had received no regular training either in anatomy 

 or engraving, and that he had many pursuits besides the 

 delineation of natural objects. He was brought up for the 

 Protestant ministry, turned to the bar, and finally became 



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cipher-secretary and confidential translator to the United Pro- 

 vinces of Holland. He is said to have been skilled in eight 

 languages. His first published work in Natural History con- 

 sisted of remarks and drawings contributed to Leaser's Insect 

 Theology (1742). About the same time, Trembley was prosecuting 

 at the Hague his studies on the freshwater Polyp, and Lyonnet 

 gave him some friendly help in the work. Those who care to 

 turn to the preface of Trembley J s famous treatise (Memoirea pour 

 servir a 1'histoire des Polypes d'eau douce, 1744) will see how 

 warralv Lyonnet's services are acknowledged. He made all 



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the drawings, and engraved eight of them himself, while 

 Trembley is careful to note that he was not only a skilful 

 draughtsman, but an acute and experienced observer. When 

 the \vork was begun, Lyonnet had never even seen the operation 

 of engraving a plate. TVandelaar, struck by the beauty of his 

 drawings, persuaded him to try what he could do with a burin. 

 His first essay was made upon the figure of a Dragon-fly, next 

 he engraved three Butterflies, and then, without longer appren- 

 ticeship, he proceeded to engrave the plates still required to 

 complete the memoir on Hydra. 



Lyonnet tells us that the larva of the Groat Moth was not 



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quite his earliest attempt in Insect Anatomy. He began with 

 the Sheep Tick, but suspecting that the subject would not be 

 popular, he made a fresh choice for his first memoir. Enough 

 interest was excited by the Traite Anatomique to call for the 

 fulfilment of a promise made in the preface that the description 

 of the pupa and imago should follow. But though Lyonnet 

 continued for some time to fill his portfolio with drawings and 



