48 THE entomologist's flECORD. 



much of what is now pubhshed appears in contrast with these old works. 

 With this work Curtis also published a Guide to an arrawjement of 

 British huect.H (2nd Ed., Lond., 1837), a catalogue in fact for the use 

 of students and collectors. In this 2nd Edn. (the 1st Edn. appeared 

 about eight years earlier, 1829-1831), the first 79 pages are devoted to 

 coleoptera. While dealing with Curtis' work, we may mention here, 

 another in which an enormous amount of valuable information as to 

 the life, habits, and breeding of many insects is given ; I refer to Farm 

 Insects, first published in 1859. Curtis' papers published in the Journal 

 of the lioijal Agricultural Societij from 1841 to 1857, descriptive of the 

 natural history and economy of insects of all orders injurious to field 

 crops, may be said to have originated the real study of economic 

 entomology by British agriculturists ; hoAV well his work has been 

 continued in this country by Miss Ormerod is well known. Work of 

 this nature has been too much neglected by many of our coleopterists, 

 and though, in consequence of the terrible confusion into which our 

 lists were brought at one time, an immense amount of synonymic 

 work was essential, the day for that has now almost gone by, 

 and yet we see but little change in the methods of our Avorkers. 

 For how few after all, of our native coleoptera, have the life- 

 histories been worked out, how little do we know of the economy 

 and breeding-habits of even well-knoAvn insects ! Granted that the 

 work is difficult, still the masterly papers contributed by Dr. Chapman 

 and Mr. Blandford to the pages of the Entomohxiist's Monthly Magazine 

 shoy/ how much information, often of the greatest importance both 

 from the scientific and from the practical side, can be obtained by 

 patient investigation. Simultaneously with Curtis, Stephens was 

 busy with his Illustratiuns of British Entouiolof/i/, Lond., 1828-1846, the 

 first five volumes of which were given up to coleoptera; in 1829 he 

 published a systematic catalogue, and in 1839 (Lond.) his Manual of 

 BritisJt Coleoptera. Much as we may admire his extraodinary industry, 

 and the self-sacrificing spirit in which he worked, still it must be 

 confessed that these works are full of blunders, and the nomenclature 

 is in such a state of utter confusion that Stephens' works are of but 

 little value to the modern worker. To the confusion into which 

 Stephens reduced the nomenclature not only of beetles but of all orders, 

 is in a large measure due the amount of valuable time which had to 

 be given by the workers who followed him for many years to questions 

 of synonymy, and to the labour of bringing our lists into some sort of 

 reasonable agreement with those of the continent. To this necessary 

 work is due much of the neglect of the other aspect of the study we 

 have before mentijoned. In 1839-40, Westwood gave to the world his 

 masterpiece, The Introduction to the uuidern classification of Insects, a 

 work which Ave may truly say is still unequalled in its OAvn line, and 

 which every worker ought to know as thoroughly as he generally knows 

 his own list of captures. How often do Ave find our field-AVorkers 

 neglecting the literature of the science they are supposed to be 

 studying. I assert most emphatically that field Avork is rendered not 

 only more interesting, but much more valuable to all, by previous 

 reading ; a thorough knowledge of the chief works which have been 

 Avritten, and of the chief memoirs Avhich have appeared on insects in 

 the order Ave study, is essential to all real progress and adA-ance, else 

 are Ave like a man groping blindly in the dark, Avhile close at his hand 



