J/«(/rt6- or Mydas? 349 



Midas, in thc very sanic volunic whicli on p. 60 cuutaiiis the gciius 

 Mydas. Tliis differcnce in the s])elling is, I think, conclusive as tu 

 tiic intention of llie speller, and his point being settled, the (luestiun 

 of the deri vatioi), as I have shown sibove, coines in the second 

 linc only. ßnt evcn in this case a eine for a Solution may be found. 

 In his Philosophia En tomologica (1778) p. 110, §.2'), Fabri- 

 cius proposes the following rnle: „Nomina generica, quae charactercni 

 esscntialem, habitum, aut proprietateni singularem insectoruin sub 

 gencre niilitantiuni expriniunt, semper optima sunt." New, in vicw 

 of this rule, the derivation from the Greek verb „to be wct", which 

 I considered at first as „far fetched". appears somewliat more plau- 

 sible. It is Strange, nevertheless, that, although P'ahricius was 

 not in the habit of explaining the derivation of his generic names, 

 he should not have, in this instance, said a word about the charac- 

 teristic wrinkled appearance of thc wings of his M. filata in onc of 

 his descriptions. This is the only link which is still wanting for thc 

 proof of the proposed derivation. 



It icmains for me to explain why Latreille, who at first had 

 Midas (1796), adopted Mydas in 1802'? I venture the following 

 supposition: In his speech at the opening of the Entomological So- 

 ciety in Paris in 1832 Latreille alludes to his friendly relations 

 with Fabricius during thc last years of thc lattcr's life. Fabri- 

 cius dicd in 1808, and it is quite possible that before this date he 

 had called the attention of Latreille to his incorrect spelling in 

 1796. I cannot resist the temptation of quoting the whole passage 

 of Latrcille's speech, the more so as it contains a wholesomc lesson 

 of scientific courtcsy : „Vous Tavouerai-jc'? Je me suis souvcnt rc- 

 penti de la censure trop severe (pie j'en avais faite (of Fabricius) 

 dans nies premiers ecrits. Ces reproches Interieurs ont etc aggraves 

 par les vifs sentiments d'amitie dont il m'honorait dans les dernieres 

 annees de sa carriere. Que cette le(;on, Messieurs, vous tienne cn 

 garde vous-memes dans vos premiers essays scientiliques. Soyez 

 toujours vrais, mais toujours prompts a excuser, et vous conserverez 

 ainsi Testime de ceux dont vous aurez etc contraints de divulguer 

 les fautes, et qui ne sont souvent quc l'effet d'une preoccupation in- 

 volontaire." ') That Latreille, with all his tenderness for Fabri- 



Ann. Soc. Eni. de Tr. 1832, p. 25, at Ihe bottoni. The wholc 

 speech is well worth perusing. I will mention in passing that in Ha- 

 gen 's Bibliotheca, I, p. 220 (under J. C. Fabricius) we find: ge- 

 storben 3. März 1808 (gest. 3. Mai 1810 teste filio, cf. West wo od). 

 The latter date is cvideiitly erroneus, as Latrcille's obituary notice of 

 Fabricius is dated 1808. Compare Hagen, 1. c. I, p. 454, No. 34 

 (under P, Latreille), 



