I 1873.] 



223 



or an adjective agi-eeiug in geiider -with the neuter AnomaJon ? If an adjective, and 

 Anomalon xanthopus be right, ought we not, on p. 65, to find the group Homalopodes 

 instead of Homalopi ; or, if Homalopi be right, ought we not to have Anomalon 

 xanthopiim ? Generic names like Desmiostoma (p. 123) or Schizoloma (p. 51) we 

 know from a former vohune of the Magazine to be regarded by Mr. Marshall as 

 adjectives and to be properly made feminine ; accordingly, the S. amictum of Wesmael 

 becomes S. amicta. On p. 119, the name Zele is made masculine ; but Z. 

 chlorophthalma seems preferable to Z. chlorophthalmus. On p. 121, was the change 

 of Haliday's Biosteres Jiceniorrhwus into hcBmorrhous necessary ? And the introduc- 

 tion of Haliday's name leads to the enquiry whether Salidayus or Salidaius is the 

 proper latinized form ? To the present writer, " Halidayus " seems impossible, and he 

 woidd therefore write Apanteles Halidail in place of Mr. Marshall's A. Ualidayi 

 (p. 105). In many other cases of these possessive personal names, do not nomen- 

 clators frequently introduce an i too many? thus, in Chrysis Etiddii (p. 3), Cteniscus 

 Curtisii (p. 77), Biosteres Wesmaelii* (p. 121), why the second i ? If required in 

 these cases, why not in EUampus Panzeri (p. 1), Ichneumon Coqueberti and Bohe- 

 mani (p. 6), and Euryproctus Waltoni (p. 68) ? Upon wliat principle have we 

 Pezomachus Matzehurgi and Kiesenwetteri (p. 47) coupled with F. Neesii and 

 Hojfmanseggii ? It is submitted that " Marshall's Ichneumon " will be rightly 

 dubbed Ichneumon Marshalli, the genitive case of " Marshallus," not " Marshallius ; " 

 and that the termination -ius sliould be reserved for names ending in e, i, or y. Thus 

 Stlbeutes BonelUi (p. 45) is right ; but 8. Gravenhorstii is one jot too long ; whilst 

 Phygadeuoti Sopei (p. 34), Agrothereutes Sopei (p. 45), and Adelognathus Ruthei 

 (p. 76) might advantageoixsly be spelt Sopii and Ruthii. Lastly, it is presumed that 

 the specific name of Aphidius pseudoplatamis (p. 110) is to be regarded as the 

 genitive case ; the genitive platanus in lieu of the familiar platani, does once occur 

 in a poem entitled " Culex," which is sufiicient authority for any Entomologist. 



But let us pass beyond the husk of nomenclature to the Entomological kernel. 

 The compiler " would gladly have placed the typical species of each genus first, and 

 the rest in the order of their affinity to that type." But would this have been 

 right ? What is wanted is a linear sequence of species, the species at the tail of one 

 genus leading gradually up to those at the head of the next genus, the species at the 

 head of the latter being those which have most affinity with those at the tail of the 

 former, so that the typical species of each genus (or of each genus except the first 

 one of all) would not be the first in the list, but would gravitate towards the centre ; 

 the natural order is a gradual progression, a continuous sequence throughout, an 

 unbroken series of steps, not an irregular succession of steps and jumps ; by placing 

 the typical species of each genus at its head, a chasm of greater or less width and 

 depth would be placed between every two consecutive genera, which by a different 

 arrangement of the species of both may be entirely or almost bridged over. The 

 species of any genus should be arranged inter se on the same principle as the genera 

 of the same family are arranged inter se : if the typical species of Chrysis is to bo 

 placed first in the genus, Chrysis as the typical genus of the ChrysididcB ought to be 

 placed first in the family. The cataloguer however confesses that, owing to the 

 imperfect condition of the literature relating to this group, and the absence of 

 definite ty^^es, he has been unable to follow any uniform principle throughout, but 



* By the way, in Wesmaelii, and the genus Wesniaelia (p. 113), why the diuresis ? Why not 

 Wetm<elia, or Vesmcelia ? — J, W. D. 



