Fauna Boreali- Americana. 387 



similar reason will justify modern entomologists for regard- 

 ing the above tribe of beetles as the typical and most perfect 

 form amongst insects, especially Coleoptera, instead of the 

 lamellicorn beetles, which Linnaeus had elevated to that rank." 

 Rejecting the tarsal system of Latreille, as well as the repre- 

 sentative theory of MacLeay, he divides the order Coleoptera 

 into thirteen primary groups : namely, 1, Adephaga, {Cicin- 

 dela, Carabus, Dyticus, and Gyrinus, L.) ; 2, Brachelytra, 

 (Staphylinus, L.) ; 3, Entaphia, (the single modern genus, 

 Necrophorus) ; 4, Necrophaga, {Silpha, Dermestes, &c.) ; 5, 

 Philhydrida, (Hydrophilus) ; 6, Lamellicornia, {Scarabceus 

 and Lucanus) ; 7, Sternoxa, {Elater, Buprestis) ; 8, Xylo- 

 phaga, {Cucujus, Cerambyx, Bostrichus); 9, Rhynchophora, 

 (Curculio) ; 10, Phytophaga, [Chrysomela) ; 11, Aphidipha- 

 ga, (Coccinella) ; 12, Heteromera, (in its Latreillian extent); 

 13, Malacoderma, (Telephorus, &c). 



One novelty in the work is the introduction of an immense 

 number of new families, or rather, we should say, the cutting 

 up of the old families into many minor groups, to each of 

 which the family termination id<B is applied. For instance, 

 the eighty-four species of Carabido described, compose no 

 fewer than twenty families, such as Agonidw, Calathidae, 

 Pcecilidm, Amaridw, Harpalidte, &c. — the types of which 

 will be familiar to English entomologists. No descriptions 

 are, however, given of these families, so that the reader will 

 have to search in the works of Latreille and other authors, 

 for the characters of the sections which Mr. Kirby has trans- 

 formed into families. We are, however, decidedly averse to 

 the plan which has been thus adopted : the Linnaean genera 

 are in general so many admirably constituted groups, that no- 

 thing could be more advantageous than to preserve them en- 

 tire, and to regard them, as Latreille first proposed to do, as 

 so many natural families, ("families naturelles") ; which idea 

 Mr. Kirby in fact originally adopted, (in his 'Century'), mere- 

 ly adding the termination idee for uniformity, to the Linnaean 

 names. That these great groups require subdivision, is not 

 to be questioned ; only let us give to the subdivisions some 

 other names and terminations, so that we may have some 

 groups, at least, firmly established. These family names, as 

 well also as the different specific names, Mr. Kirby has in- 

 variably anglicised. Thus, the Cicindelidto are Cicindeli- 

 dans ; the Harpalidce, Harpalidans ; Vanessidce, Vanessi- 

 dans. Cicindela hirticollis is the "hairy -necked Cicindela;" 

 Oiceoptoma (Necrophila) terminatum, the "terminated O. 

 Necrophila." Although however we are adverse to the would- 

 be-science which must always talk in Latin or Greek, and 



