PREFACE. 



Now that entomology is attracting so much interest among 

 all classes, and has become such a favourite pursuit, it 

 appeared to the author of the present work that there was 

 room for a book of moderate size, in which the most 

 typical and remarkable insects of all orders, and from all 

 parts of the world, should be popularly described and figured. 

 Previous works on entomology have generally treated only 

 of a single order of insects, or else of British insects. This 

 Text-Book is chiefly intended as a compressed popular Intro- 

 duction to the classification of insects in general, and by the 

 careful omission of all technicalities not absolutely necessary 

 for this object, sufficient space has been gained to give a 

 short and readable, though necessarily somewhat condensed, 

 account of all the principal families of insects, interspersed 

 with occasional observations on their habits and economic 

 importance, preference being given to those which have not 

 previously appeared in English popular works. ' 



W. F. KIRBY. 



