ELEMENTS OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY. 505 



Dr. Erichson appears to us the most natural, namely, its im- 

 mediate connexion with the Silphidce. Mr. Shuckard also 

 strongly objects to the introduction of the Gyrinidce amongst 

 the Hydradephagous Adepkagi, advancing various reasons 

 against their relation, such as the possession of four eyes, the 

 different position of the legs, and structure of those limbs, the 

 great dissimilarity in their trophi and antennce, and to crown 

 all, the total dissimilarity in their larva, &c. Notwithstand- 

 ing these strong peculiarities, we cannot however but consider 

 that the Gyrinidce. are properly located amongst the Adeplia- 

 ga, the activity of their motions and their strong powers of 

 voracity, eminently qualifying them for such a relation, and 

 far outweighing, in our opinion, structural variations of minor 

 import. 



We are glad to find the great mass of the clavicorn beetles, 

 including the Xylophaga, continued en masse, contrary to 

 Latreille's plan of separating the latter from the more evident- 

 ly Pentamerous clavicorns. The situation of the SpliGeridiida 

 at the end of the palpicorn aquatic beetles, succeeded by the 

 Histeridce, and these by the Lucanidce, is very natural, al- 

 though these various relations had been pointed out by pre- 

 ceding writers. 



The great value of the work however consists in the cha- 

 racters of the genera, of which three hundred and thirty-two 

 are described in this first part, (being about half of the order 

 of beetles) ; indeed it would have been more correct to have 

 styled the work a systematic description of the genera of Brit- 

 ish insects, rather than to have designated it by its present 

 more comprehensive title-page. Each genus, on an average, 

 occupies about half a page ; the characters being about as 

 long as (and often very similar to) those of Stephens' Illus- 

 trations : ■ in like manner also the genera in each family are 

 tabularized, the table being however in English instead of 

 Latin. The derivation of generic names is also given, a very 

 advantageous plan pursued by Brulle and others, and which 

 serves in a much more certain manner to fix a long series of 

 names in the memory, than when given without any such de- 

 finition. Under each genus are given short details of the 

 natural history of such of the species as may have been no- 

 ticed, but it may be readily conceived how many genera there 

 are which are destitute of any such observations, and of which 

 the mere existence of the few cabinet species is all that is 

 known of the genus ; hence the superiority of the plan pur- 



1 Compare for instance the characters of Medon in p. 104, with those given 

 by Stephens, Mand. vol. v. p. 273. 

 Vol. III.— No. 34. n. s. 3 i 



