NEW BRITISH SPECIES, ETC., IX 1872. 19 



best of my small means, endeavoured to assist my fellow- 

 students in this country by examining and naming their 

 difficulties, recording events and facts likely to be useful, 

 and otherwise working at least as much for others as for 

 myself. Moreover, if I had felt inclined to confine myself 

 to what I cannot but consider as the husks of the science, I 

 should certainly have had sufficient intelligence to see that 

 to dabble in nomenclature, with no special aptitude, and no 

 means of obtaining readily all the literature that has been 

 published on Entomology, could not but have entailed ridi- 

 cule on me ; and I should have recognized (as I do recog- 

 nize) in Mr. G. R. Crotch the possession of the taste, ability, 

 and means requisite for success. But if, in the ordinary 

 course of my pursuit, I have met with questions of nomen- 

 clature bearing upon British Coleoptera, I have never found 

 them so distressingly difficult to comprehend as Mr. Lewis 

 apparently has, in the branch (whatever it may be) of Ento- 

 mology studied by him ; — for I am at a loss to imagine any 

 other motive for his rabid dislike of synonyms. 



The " foot note of two lines," which Mr. Lewis (does not 

 quote but merely) refers to as " designed apparently to dis- 

 pose of the whole question," is as follows: — "A careful 

 perusal of Von E[arold's paper on Nomenclature (Coleoptero- 

 logische Hefte, vi, 1870, pp. 37—69) is recommended to all 

 who doubt the utility of the so-called ' resurrection men.' — 

 E. C. R.;" and (having just perused that paper, for other pur- 

 poses) I added the name of v. Harold to those of the writers on 

 Lepidoptera mentioned by Mr. Kirby (Ent. Mo. Mag. viii, p. 

 42) as conscientious appliers of the rule of priority. I cannot 

 compliment Mr. Lewis (with justice, at least) upon his per- 

 ceptive capabilities, if such a reference has so misled him. 



The expression " sixteen pages of copied synonymy," is, 

 to say the very least, misleading ; a lengthy paper, contaia- 



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