Bibliographical Notice, 137 



extensive one, of our modern speculators : *' The root of all classifi- 

 cation in natural history is formed by the species, — which may be 

 roughly defined as an assemblage of individuals all possessing exactly 

 the same characters, and which are all supposed to have originated 

 from the same parents. The systematic naturalist therefore takes 

 no notice of the individual, which in his eyes is merely an example 

 of the species to which it belongs ; and the latter thus forms as it 

 were the first step towards a classification" (p. 51). 



Speaking also of the binomial method of nomenclature, Mr. Dallas 

 has the following very appropriate remark : " This system is the 

 same in principle with our own constant practice in common parlance, 

 when we employ a well-known substantive in a generic sense, and 

 qualify it to suit particular cases by the addition of an adjective." 



As regards the classification followed, the author has not departed 

 substantially from that which has been employed by Mr. Westwood 

 and most British entomologists ; nevertheless he expresses his con- 

 viction that " the adoption of the metamorphosis as the foundation 

 of the arrangement of Insects leads to a more philosophical result.*' 

 Without wishing, however, to undervalue the importance of the 

 transformations in guiding us to a natural classification in the insect 

 world, we must plead guilty, for our own part, to a certain a priori 

 prejudice in favour of both metamorphosis and ultimate structure 

 being taken into account, whilst endeavouring to arrive at the truth ; 

 for we cannot believe that either of them, alone, will ever lead to a 

 sufficient appreciation of the several creatures (both in their consti- 

 tutions and attributes) to enable us to arrange them in real accord- 

 ance with nature. And we need scarcely add, therefore, that we 

 prefer the system which Mr. Dallas has adopted to that {vide p. 58) 

 to which he affirms his own adherence, — founded exclusively on the 

 character of the transformations. 



The remaining twelve chapters, forming the larger portion of the 

 work, are devoted to the description of the seven great Orders into 

 which the Insecta are divided. We say " seven," because we cannot 

 regard the Strepsiptera as more than retained provisionally separate 

 from the Coleoptera (to which it clearly belongs — a fact which Mr. 

 Dallas himself seems inclined to admit), the Physopoda from the 

 Neuroptcra, and the Fleas from the Biptera. In these chapters the 

 various Orders are ably discussed seriatim^ — the Rhynchota (as 

 might be anticipated from the author's w^U-known predilection for 

 the Bugs) being more particularly fortunate perhaps in their mode 

 of treatment. The following is an example of Mr. Dallas's happy 

 manner of depicting, what must be to most of us, a familiar friend ; — 



" Every one must have remarked, especially during the early part 

 of the summer, the occurrence, upon many plants and shrubs in our 

 gardens, of curious little masses of froth, generally known to gar- 

 deners under the name of * Cuckoo-spits,' from a very ancient idea 

 that that singular bird the Cuckoo was in some way connected with 

 their production. On examining some of these Cuckoo-spits, how- 

 ever, we soon discover the real cause of their formation in the shape 

 of a small, yellow, soft insect, with brown eyes, which seem to stare 



