1G0 Colcoptcra of t7ic Eastern 



auraius has been carried in the earth surrounding' the roots of trees. 

 So raried, in truth, is the habitation of the insect world, that almost 

 every conceivable importation may serve as the nidus of some spe- 

 cies, which radiating from this point may, in the course of time, 

 become completely naturalized in a foreign land. 



There are, however, other kinds for whose presence in this 

 country no such satisfactory reason can be assigned. They are not 

 confined to the more settled portions of our republic, nor is their 

 occurrence a matter of such rarity as to render it probable that their 

 abode on this continent has been of short duration. It is to these 

 mainly that we shall confine our attention. 



It is not intended in this essay to enter into a detailed examina- 

 tion of the various theories which have been proposed, in order to 

 accounl for these coincidences of production: any generalizations 

 from the few facts at present possessed on the subject, would l>e al- 

 togi ther premature. Patient investigation must first make known 

 the limits of the distribution of these animals, and then we may hope 

 to evolve a theorj Buitable to the results obtained. 



Any BUcb reputed fact, as the discovery of a species on this con- 

 tinent, which baa heretofore been supposed to be confined to the 

 old world, phould be received with extreme hesitation, and admit 

 ted as correct only after tbe moat rigid examination. Many such 

 pretended discoveries have been overthrown by the increase of our 

 knowledge; similar assertions should therefore be submitted to 

 the I scrutiny. 



terii for a short time into the regions of speculation, we 

 might easily suppose a 'priori, that in the operation of the general 

 laws of creation, which probably obtain throughout the physical uni- 

 verse, the productions of the two hemispheres would approximate 

 in character, according as the circumstances under which they ori- 



ated were more or less similar. Now one of the most efficient 

 of these circumstance . because one thai always continues actii 

 with equal force, if a similarity of climate. It is also a fact, almost 

 id( ut indeed, from physical considerations, thai the climates of 

 the two continents approach more nearly to each other, the farther 

 wc pioet ed north ; it might therefore be inferred that tho similari- 



