THE CANADIAN P]NTOMOLOGIST. 91 



Neumoegen's grand collection, and I have figured a good number of the 

 species. There can thus be but few cases of doubt as to what I have 

 described." All of these collections I have studied, and my references 

 are to identifications made in them. I do not blame Mr. Grote for making 

 errors, and had he not assumed so infallible a standard for himself in his 

 criticism of others, would not have so often pointed them out. I am said 

 also to have followed Mr Grote's synonymy or " adopted " it. Alto- 

 gether 59 species have synonyms. Of these 23 are originally stated by 

 myself, Mr. Strecker gives one, Mr. Butler is responsible in whole or in 

 part for six, two of them are mere citations of preoccupied names, and of 

 the older species the synonymy is " adopted " by Mr. Grote from Walker 

 in several instances. This is not scientific literature by any means, 

 and I regret being responsible for it, but I cannot allovv Mr. 

 Grote's statement " that I have at least laid down the founda- 

 tion for its proper study " to go unchallenged. Mr. Grote's work 

 in the North American Noctuidse has been a necessary one, and has 

 been largely drudgery. No one can better appreciate than I the labor 

 involved in identifying material, naming and describing it. That he made 

 synonyms was simply natural and unavoidable, and is in no wise to his 

 discredit. I expect to make them myself, and have done so already. 

 Our Doctuids are far from completely known, and in the Agrotes alone 

 will reach nearly 500 species. I know of more than 20 already that are 

 different from any described in the monograph. Mr. Grote's earlier 

 papers were, as a rlile, careful and easy to work with, and so up to the 

 period of Dr. Harvey's work. That Mr. Grote really described Dr. 

 Harvey's species has been often told me ; but it is interesting to have the 

 statement from headquarters. Mr. Grote's work in the later period failed 

 to equal the earlier papers, so far as value to the student is concerned, 

 from the fact that he assumed in general that his readers knew the Noc- 

 tuidK just as well as he did himself. A brief indication, perfectly char- 

 acteristic in Mr. Grote's view, was absolutely incomprehensible to one 

 not so well grounded. Mr. Grote's work is essentially descriptive, rarely 

 systematic, never monographic. His generalizations are often well put, 

 interesting and valuable ; but withal I have not found anywhere any 

 " foundations " for monographic work that did not already exist in 

 literature. Mr. Grote's correction of my reference to insulsa is just. I 

 somehow overlooked the comparison to repentis. A specimen in Dr. 

 Bethune's collection named by Walker, and agreeing with his description, 

 is a species of Hadena, allied to devastatrix in maculation, but much 

 darker and richer brown in colour, and is Mr. Grote's H. ducta. Walker's 

 determinations are not reliable, and I do not say Mr. Grote is wrong. 



John B. Smith. 



