LONG-HOltNED WEEVILS. 



197 



The former of the two names seems to liave been composed 

 much as Dickens' author composed his woi'k on Chinese meta- 

 physics, by taking a cyclopsedia and reading the article " China" 

 under the letter C, " Metaphysics " under the letter M, and com- 

 bining his information. The author has evidently got hold of an 

 English-Greek lexicon, and, wanting an equivalent for " strange- 

 liorned," looked for the word " strange," or " stranger," under the 

 letter >S', and found Xewos. Then he looked for "horn" under 

 the letter H, and found Keras. Then, by combining his in- 

 formation, he formed the word JLenocerus, not in the least 

 seeing that Xenos signifies " a stranger," i.e. a guest, or a 

 stranger in the lioiise, and lias nothing to do with the word 

 " strange " in the sense of exceptional or wonderful, that 

 being evidently the meaning which the writer meant to convey. 



The insect wliich is now ];)efore us comes from the Aru 

 Islands, and is one of the many beautiful species which have 

 been brought to England by Mr. Wallace. The antennas of the 

 male are of extraordinary length, and are extraordinarily slender 

 except for the first two or three joints. The colour of the 

 antennae is black, except the first or basal half of the fifth joint, 

 which is white. They are arranged much in the same manner 

 in every specimen. The first joint is short, stout, and rounded. 

 The next is long, and has a slight and somewhat variable double 

 curvature. The third is very short ; and the fourth is the longest 

 of all the joints. Then comes the fifth joint, which is slender, 

 short, and has the basal half -white ; and the rest of the joints 

 are nearly equal in length and very delicate^ no tliicker, indeed, 

 than an ordinary liorse-liair. " 



