June, igo4 | SmITH : CATALOGUE OF THE NOCTUID.^. 103 



The list of unrecognized species is remarkably small and it con- 

 tains some names of species which were described by me since I sent 

 my contributions to Mr. Hampson. It will be my pleasure to add to 

 the British Museum series in this direction. 



Altogether the book is an excellent one. I have been very free 

 in expressing dissent on some points, but that makes nothing against 

 its general value So far as the generic differences go, these are so 

 largely matters of personal opinion that a dissent from a conclusion is 

 not necessarily even a criticism. On the question of identity of 

 species and consequent synonymy there has been little disagreement 

 between Mr. Hampson and myself and some day we will reach a final 

 agreement on all points. Criticism in the nature of fault-finding or in 

 the expression of dissent is easy ; but it is not so easy to present a 

 substitute that is more satisfactory, even to oneself. Without recast- 

 ing the entire scheme it is almost impossible to avoid using exactly 

 the characters employed by Mr. Hampson. The following table 

 illustrates that point. 



NuCTUlDEA. 



1. Maxillary palpi present HvBL.tlD.^. 



Maxillary palpi wanting , 2. 



2. Frenelum in the female simple 3. 



Frenelum in the female compound 4. 



3. Abdomen with lateral ana! pencils of hair Euteliid.1i. 



Abdomen without anal pencils of hair, primaries with tufts of raised scales in the 



cell Stictopteriu.^. 



4. Secondaries with vein 5 weak or obsolescent, from the cross-vein well removed 



from 4 10. 



Secondaries with vein 5 moderate or strong, from the cross-vein near to vein 4. 7. 

 Secondaries with vein 5 as strong as the others, close to 4 and forming part of the 



series of the end of the median 5- 



Secondaries with vein 5 as strong as the others, out of the median at or before 



the division into 3 and 4 Hypenid.«. 



5. Eyes hairy Pantheid.«. 



Eyes naked 6. 



6. Median cell of secondaries very short, veins 2-5 originating close together. 



Erebein^. 



Median cell of secondaries extends to middle of wing at least, veins 2-5 are not 



close together at base Catocalin.^. 



7. Retinaculum of the male bar-shaped 8. 



Retinaculum of the male not bar-shaped 9- 



8. Forewings with tufts of raised scales in the cell Sarrothrtfin^.. 



Forewings without such tufts AcoNTliN^. 



9. Eyes more or less fringed or lashed Pl,USiiN/E. 



