38 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



characters, a most ridiculous process. Some authors write 

 the description of a new genus and species in one, and kindly 

 suggest to the reader that " the characters of the genus may 

 be gleaned from the above description." Anyone who attempts 

 this gleaning process will find the field full of stones and 

 weeds. 



The other view, that a genus was definable by certain char 

 acters, held sway over systematists for at least the first half 

 of the last century. Their idea was that when the characters 

 of a genus were once fully given, that genus was fixed for 

 all time. They commonly accepted the idea of a type as a 

 species exhibiting all the characters of the genus in their full 

 development. In fact, some of these authors cited two or 

 more species as types of the genus. A species differing in 

 some peculiarity was held none the less truly as belonging to 

 the genus; or with others it might be separated in a section 

 or subgenus. And here let me say that a subgenus is just as 

 logical, just as natural, as a subfamily. Of course there was 

 more or less deviation, but these were the predominant meth 

 ods. With the increasing importance assigned to the genotype, 

 there come new possibilities. 



SPECIES AND GENERA ALIKE UNNATURAL. 



In nature species are distinguished by all manner and de 

 gree of separation. One series of species may be separated only 

 by differences in the genitalia of the male sex. Another series 

 of forms may be separated not only by genitalic differences, 

 but by color, by secondary sexual characters, by vestiture, by 

 sculpture, by structural details, and by geographic range. One 

 series may show species after species with slight variation; 

 another series may display subspecies, races, aberrations, and 

 sports in endless variety. In one case the species seem to be 

 final, natural entities. By the other series one sees species in 

 the course of development, their limits faint or inconstant, their 

 characters too uncertain for language species such as appear 

 distinct to the eye, yet incapable of description. I know many 

 have an idea that species are more definite than genera. As 

 well say that the leaf is more definite than the twig, or the 



