384 Osten Sacken: two critical remarhs 



Iiobinoan's publications embracc not only zoology, but nlso 

 geology, paloontology, local bistory. archcologj', statistics etc., prin- 

 cipally witb veferencc of liis iiative district. Besidcs, be sccnis tn 

 bave been a good latin and greek scbolar and to have possessed an 

 admirable power of expression, botb in speecb, as in writing ( „la 

 ])nissante originalito de sa parole"). Ilis niind was preeminently of 

 tlic gcncralizing Order; wbatever be touched, be innovated and ro- 

 fornied. But tbis very boldness in reforin bccamc, as we sliall soo, 

 tlie ultiniate cause of bis scientific failures. 



For natural bistory, be liad a great love and a precniincnt talent. 

 Quite carly be seems to bave selected tbe Diptera for liis specialty 

 and be maintained tbis preference througb life. A sbort tinie beforo 

 bis deatb be wrote to a friend: „ Je crois que je mourrai en loupant 

 un diptere!" One of bis earliest papcrs, „Essai sur la tribu des 

 Culicides" appeared in 1827. The Preface alone of tbis werk 

 is wortb reading, as a sample of bis brilliant style, bis ricbness in 

 ideas, bis erudition in niany directions, and bis diligent study of tbe 

 prcvious literature. Tbe descriptive portion contains niany novelties 

 overlooked since, and still deserving attention and verification. For 

 instance tbis passage (p. 400): „It is generally believed tbat tbe 

 „Culicidae bave no ocelli. A close attention soon discovers tbcni, 

 „and in some species they are ratlier distinctly pcrceptible." Tliis 

 Statement remains of course to be verified, but it foresbadows tbe 

 observations of Scbiner and Dufour, confirmed by recent re- 

 searcbes of MM. Mi all and Hammond, to wbich I bave called 

 attention in tbe Berl. Ent. Z. 1892. p. 460, namely, tbat altbougb tbe 

 absence of distinct ocelli remains a diagnostic cbaracter of tbe Ne- 

 mocera vera (except in tbe Mycetopbilidae, Lestremina and 

 Tricbocera), tbe presence of rudimentary ocelli can sometimes, 

 perbaps often, be proved by tbe presence of niinute ocellary ncrves. 



Anotber innovation, introduccd by Robin eau in bis Culicidae, 

 is bis nomenclature of tbe wing-cells to wbicb bc rcmained faithfnl 

 in bis later work, but wbicb bas been entircly ignorcd sincc, altbougb 

 it is considerably in advancc of bis contcmporarics. Tbe surface of 

 tbe wings is divided in rcgions, cacb rcgion containing tbree or four 

 cells. The regions are named by capital letters of tbe aiphabet, the 

 cells by greek letters. It is an opcn »luestion. wbctbor tbis nomen- 

 clature is not easier to reniembor and less cuinbrous tban tbe ditferent 

 Systems used now. At any rate it is a proof of bis consciencious- 

 ness, tbat he feit impelled, from the very beginning, to solve this 

 difficult Problem. Scbiner, many )-ears latcr, reproachcd Loew, 



