514 CHAPTER OF VARIETIES. 



gardens. I have found this insect frequently among clover and lucerne, 

 where it delights to bask in the hot summer sun. There are several 

 varieties of this insect in Britain, of which six or eight inhabit the 

 counties of Kent and Surrey. The great dragon-fly (L. deprcssa), its 

 body being of a sky-blue colour, may be found often on the heath at 

 Addington near Croydon, where I have collected numerous fine spe- 

 cimens of this and several other insects, especially of the genus Papilio. 

 The small varieties may be found on hot days hovering about the hedge- 

 rows in the glare of the sun. The great dragon-fly is remarkably rapid 

 in its career, seldom stopping to rest, and is extremely watchful. 

 Every one who pretends to any thing like observation, must have 

 remarked the beautiful and perfect eye of this insect. It forms a beau- 

 tiful object for the microscope. Although the dragon-fly seems a 

 formidable insect from its size, it is quite harmless. The country folks, 

 however, in some places, have given it the uncourteous name of the 

 horse-stinger, or devil's needle. It has no sting, nor does it infest 

 horses, at least as far as I am aware. I have lately met with two 

 species uncommon in this part of country, I believe, one of which 

 I send with the communication for your inspection. The other 

 specimen was unfortunately destroyed. I hope to be able at some 

 future period to contribute (if thought sufficiently important), some 

 further particulars regarding other insects which have come under my 

 actual observation. SYLVANUS. 



Camberwell, August 3, 1833. 



BARON CUVIER'S ANIJIAL KINGDOM *. The work, which in imita- 

 tion of the quaint conceit of Linnaeus, Baron Cuvier entitled " Regne 

 Animate," that is, " Animal Kingdom," is well known to naturalists 

 as the only publication since the Systema Naturae, that pretends to 

 embrace a view of the whole animal creation. As such, therefore, and 

 coming from the greatest comparative anatomist who ever lived, it is 

 highly valuable as a work of reference, though from the briefness of 

 detail, it is not at all a readable book any more than the Systema 

 Naturae. In the great lumbering, ill-translated, and ill-digested pub- 

 lication of Griffith, indeed, an attempt has been made to combine the 



* The Animal Kingdom arranged according to its organisation serving as 

 a foundation for the Natural History of Animals and an Introduction to Com- 

 parative Anatomy. By Baron Cuvier, with coloured plates. In monthly 

 numbers. Henderson, London. 



