312 Scientific Notices* 



Art. XXXII. Scientific Notices. 



ROYAL CABINET OF INSECTS AT BERLIN. 



The following account of the past and present state of the Royal 

 Cabinet of Insects at Berlin, and of the accessions which it has 

 received within the last few years, is extracted from the Preface 

 to King's " EntomologischeMonographien," noticed in the second 

 volume of this Journal, p. 538. 



" Previous to the commencement of the year 18^0, the Collec- 

 tion of Insects in the Museum of the University was of very trivial 

 importance. It consisted merely of a small Cabinet of European 

 Coleoptertty purchased from Captain Von Malinowsky ; of a few 

 partially exotic insects from the Cabinet of Dr. Riemer ; of the 

 Collection of European Lepidoptera^ formed by our immortal 

 Laspeyres; and of the Cape Insects presented to the Museum 

 by my respected colleague Professor Lichtenstein. At this period 

 the most striking disparity prevailed between this and the other 

 richly endowed departments of the Royal Museum ; when the 

 gap was filled up by the purchase of the united Cabinets of 

 Hellwig and Hoffmansegg. This splendid collection contained 

 about 19,000 species, of which nearly 9,000 were exotic, for the 

 most part Brazilian. The Coleoptera amounted to near 7,500, 

 the Orthoptera to about 500, the Neuroptera to 350, the Lepi- 

 doptera to about 5,000, the Hymenoptera to something more than 

 2,000, the Hemiptera to about 1,400, and the Diptera to nearly 

 2,000. About the same time the magnificent Collection of 

 Salingre, so frequently mentioned by Herbst, together with many 

 rare Coleoptera from the Cabinet of Holthuysen were transferred 

 to the Museum by their respective proprietors : as were also two 

 small Collections formed in this city by Surgeon CoUignon and 

 Counsellor Kirstein, the former by way of present, and the latter 

 as a legacy. Nor was the opportunity of purchasing the Cabinet 



