SOCIETIES. 129 



of entomological authors, and this is greatly facilitated by the coiiious 

 references which every author, with the exception of the later British 

 authors, gives to the works of his predecessors who have dealt with the 

 insect he is describing. As prol)ably many of the members of this 

 society have as little acquaintance with tlie works of earlier authors as 

 I had Avlien I promised to read this pa})er, I trust that a historico- 

 biographical sketch thereof may not lie uninteresting. Tlie foruwUvc 

 period as regards trivial nomenclature of lepidoptera, comprises the last 

 half of the last century and the first quarter of the present. At its 

 commencement trivial names were invented, by its close the great bulk 

 of European lepidoptera known to-day had received names. Fortunately 

 our starting point is clear, we begin with the inventor of trivial names, 

 the great Swedish naturalist, Linnaeus. Before his time, naturalists 

 were familiar with the use of a certain number of what we now call 

 generic names, but Avhen they desired to indicate a species they added 

 to the generic name what was in effect a short description of the insect. 

 For example: Albin, an English painter, who imlilished in 1724 a 

 volume of coloured jilates of the various stages of the insects known to 

 him, says of an insect Avhich -we have all captured, that it was called 

 " Pap'dio major nigricans alis maculis rubris et alibis pulchris illustratis." 

 We know it as Vanei<sa atalanta. Linna?us, recognising the disadvantages 

 of such a cumbrous method of nomenclature, invented the use of a 

 single word to indicate tlie form, which he designated the trivial name, 

 and which, in conjunction with the generic name, was henceforth to be 

 the designation of the sjiecies, and this is known as the binomial sj'stem 

 of nomenclature. Linna?us further adopted distinctive terminations 

 for many of the groups, into which he divided lepidoptera. Aria and 

 ata mark the two groups into wliich he divided his Geosietr^ ; his 

 ToKTRK'ES all receive trivial names ending in ana ; his Pykales in alis, 

 and his Tineina in ella\ a custom of very obvious convenience. He 

 did not, however, adopt this principle with the Butterflies, Sphinges, 

 r)ombyces or Xoctua?. Linneaeus' work emlu'aced the three kingdoms 

 t)f the natural world, the animal, vegetable and mineral. We are only 

 concerned Avith that part of it which deals with lepidojitera. Of these 

 he described and named every species knowai to him. His descrijDtions 

 are not very full, but in some way such a wide-spread knowledge of his 

 work was obtained that the names he gave found universal acceptance. 

 To-day Ave call 45 of our Bhopalocera by the trivial names which he 

 gave them. Another testimony to the Avide-spread acquaintance Avith 

 and acceptance of his names is afforded by the gi-eat number of them 

 Avhich stand in our lists Avithout a later rival. But Avhilst there is a 

 uniA'ersal agreement that avc must begin our researches Avith Liniifeus, 

 opinion has not been equally unanimous as to Avhich of his Avorks 

 should be our terminus a quo. The British Association suggested that 

 tlie 12th edition of the Sysfema Naturai, published in 1767, should bo 

 tlie starting point ; it seems, hoAvever, more reasonable to begin at the 

 lieginning, and that lieginning is found in the lOtli edition of the same 

 Avork, published in 1758, Avhich is the earliest of his Avorks in Avliich 

 trivial names are used. Three years later Ave liaA^e, in the second 

 edition of his Fauna Suecica, a A'olume dealing exclusively Avitli the 

 fauna of SAveden, and containing fuller descriptions than the Systema 

 Natiirm, another valuable Avork of reference. The neAv system of 

 nomenclature commended itself so thoroughly to naturalists that its 



