THE LITEEATUJIE OP BRITISH COLEOPTERA FOR THE CENTURY. 49 



is the switch which will give him in a moment the full blaze of light. 

 In the year 1840, appeared British C'olcnptera delineated. The plates were 

 by W. Spry and the editor was W. E. Shuekard (Librn. R.S.); this is 

 an invaluable book for the beginner, especially when he has not the 

 opportunity of consulting a public or fairly complete private collection, 

 or the British Coleoptera of Canon Fowler, The plates (and figures 

 are given for every known British genus) are superb and fully justify 

 the boast of its editor in the preface " yet in careful accuracy I am 

 convinced it is not by that even surpassed;" with their help the 

 young student has no difficulty in assigning his captures to their 

 respective genera. 



Now comes a considerable interval of time in which but little was 

 published in this country on coleoptera, the spell at length being 

 broken by the appearance, in 1854, of Dawson's Geodephcuja Britannica 

 (Lond.) ; for this part of our order, ahvays a favourite study, Dawson 

 worked a complete revolution, all Stephens' imaginary species which 

 had cumbered our lists and brought about such endless confusion were 

 at once swept away, and in 1858-61, G. R. Waterhouse, in his. 

 Catalcxiue of British Coleoptera, dealt with the whole order in a similar 

 fashion. These tAvo books, therefore, mark the dividing line which 

 separates our modern lists from the older confined conditions of Curtis 

 and Stephens. Dallas' Elewents of Entomoloim (Lond., 1857), a 

 popular treatment of the science for beginners, devoted two chapters 

 — V and vi — entirely to coleoptera, the first four chapters dealing 

 with the structure, transformations, &c., of insects generally. The. 

 next catalogue after Waterhouse's was one published by Crotch" 

 (Camb., 1863) (a 2nd edition in 1866), whilst, in 1867, a joint 

 paper by Crotch and Sharp was read before the Entomological 

 Society of London, giving additions to the catalogue and describing 

 in detail several new species. Between these publications there 

 appeared, in 1866, Rye's British Beetles (Lond.), the book which has 

 been, perhaps, of all those published in England, the most valuable 

 to the young student, and the one to which many a worker owes his 

 first introduction to the science. A catalogue was given at the end of 

 the volume, but in a new edition lately published, edited by Canon 

 Fowler, this has been, we regret to say, omitted ; it would have been 

 perfectly easy to reprint one of the modern catalogues, and thus have 

 made the new edition more valuable to those purchasing it in order to 

 begin the study of the order. In 1871, appeared Dr. Sharp's first 

 Cataloijue (a 2nd edition in 1883), and, in 1872, the monograph on the 

 Trichnpteryjidae, by the Rev. A. Mathews, Triehojiteri/i/ia illnstrata et 

 (/('.sr/'/^^ta (Lond.), another classic. If a collector is ever to identify his speci- 

 mens of these minute genera it can only be done by patient use of this 

 monograph, a model of what such a work should be, both in letterpress 

 and plates. A supplementary volume, edited by Dr. IMason, has just been 

 issued from the press (1900), the lamented author not living to see the 

 completion of his devoted labours. Another step forward was taken 

 when Cox's Handhnd; of the Coleojitera of (ireat Britain and Ireland 

 appeared in two volumes in 1874, and, at last the student of our order 

 had a trustworthy English work giving a description of every species, 

 accompanied by excellent tabular arrangements of the species for each 

 genus ; by its aid it was possible, given a preliminary general know- 

 ledge of the order, to work out with fair prospect of success, the name 



