6 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



literature of the subject, I think he will find Mr. Grote's criticisms on Mr. 

 Morrison's writings and on the species described by him, at least severe 

 enough to justify my statement. 



So I am charged with ignoring Mr. Grote's work, and of failing to 

 give him due credit. He writes (Abh. des. n-w Ver. zu Bremen, XIV., p. 

 1 6 of separate), after quoting my statement of the bases for sub- 

 dividing Agrotis : " This is only a restatement of my original recom- 

 mendation. As a matter of fact, throughout Smith merely applies 

 rigorously the structural characters pointed out l>y me long before, and 

 which I lacked time and material to ascertain in the case of each species. 

 In this same paper I say : ' Subdivisions of the genus can be undertaken 

 when the form of the genitalia is studied. This character, taken in 

 connection with the antennal structure, will give us subgenera and assist 

 in the identification of our numerous species.' This is precisely what 

 Smith gives us after a lapse of seven years, and without making proper 

 mention of my initiatory work. He follows my lead as if I had fiot 

 pointed out the way.''* Mr. Grote is quite right in the statement that I 

 gave him no credit for the characters used by me, and this is simply because 

 they were not in any sense of the word original with him. Lederer used 

 them in his work on the European Noctuids, so long ago as 1857, and so 

 many other writers, antedating Mr. Grote, used them, that they long since 

 became common or universal knowledge. I made no claim to originality 

 in their use, and concede none to Mr. Grote. I made a bald statement 

 of the characters employed ; nothing more. I do claim originality, how- 

 ever, for the use of the claspers instead of the side-pieces (harpes) alone. 

 Lederer used the latter only, and Mr. Grote nowhere went further than 

 Lederer. 



Mr. Slingerland questions also whether we shall use Feltia or 

 Agro7ioma, because Mr. Grote asserts that the two are synonyms and the 

 latter, with vestigialis as type, antedates Feltia. Mr. Slingerland failed 

 to find material in Mr. Grote's writings to determine the matter and, quite 

 correctly, does not accept his bald statement as decisive. I gave in my 

 Revision (p. 109), under Feltia, the following: "The distinctive 

 characters of the species grouped under the present term are, spinose and 

 quite heavily armed fore tibite ; protuberant, rough front, pectinated or 

 serrate antennae, usually wide wings with dark colours and a tendency to 



*The italics are mine. 



