VALEDICTORY ADDRESS. XV 



Mr. Westwood's work' is of a very different kind from the 

 foregoing, and is, as the title expresses, an introduction to the 

 modern classification of insects. It is published in monthly 

 numbers, six of which have already appeared, and four more 

 are to render the work complete. This restriction of a work 

 to a limited size is, in my opinion, exceedingly ill-judged; the 

 sixth number does not finish the Coleoptera, and the other 

 classes are as yet untouched. Mr. Westwood should give us 

 at least twenty numbers. The work consists of two distinct 

 parts; the second part is a brief and crude, if not careless 

 abstract of the characters of British genera, the object of which 

 is not apparent. The first part must be spoken of in different 

 terms : it appears to me a careful and judicious digest, of rare 

 and extensive learning, of elaborate and deep research. It is 

 impossible to read these highly interesting pages, and to com- 

 pare the text with the numerous cuts, executed from the 

 author's own drawings, without feeling a profound respect for 

 that invincible industry which has collected so immense a mass 

 of information. 



Mr. Taylor's Bee-keeper's Manual"' is a very small and un- 

 pretending volume : the author evidently possesses a know- 

 ledge of his subject, arranges his matter judiciously, and writes 

 in a clear and intelligible style. Our apiarians are seldom 

 entomologists, neither are our entomologists apiarians ; hence 

 the questions most interesting to the entomologist, as the im- 

 pregnation of the queen, the hexagonal figure of the cells, the 

 structural difference of queens and neuters, and many others, 

 remain still in utter darkness. 



My remarks on Kirby and MacLeay, the magnates of ento- 

 mology, will no doubt be considered somewhat too free. Let 

 those who think so examine their recent quartos as I have 



1 Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects, founded on tlieir natural 

 habits and corresponding organization; to which is added, a Descriptive Synopsis 

 of all the British Genera. By J. O. Westwood. London, 1838. 



" The Bee Keeper's Manual ; or, Practical Hints on the Management and 

 complete Preservation of the Honey Bee, and in particular in Collateral Hives. 

 Bv Henry Taylor. Groombridge, London. 



