72 COLEOPTERA. 



and the mere publication of a serious and unprejudiced work 

 of this kind is a good augury. 



Dr. Sharp gives a sample of a Catalogue of British 

 Coleoptera, in which, from the arrangement, the species are 

 made the basis : thus — 



(Column 1.) Species, (Column 2.) Genera. 



1. Scaralmis mohirwornis Fab. . . ODONT^US Er. 



2. Scarah^us typJiceus Lin. . . MINOTAURUS Jek. 



« « » $ 



12. SilphascaljraJAn, .. .. TROX Harold. [? Fab.] 



This is, of course, an inversion of the ordinary method of 

 descriptive works, in which the modern genus is mentioned 



lirst, thus : — 



Odoxt^us mobilicoenis. 

 ScarahcBUS mohilicornis, Fab. &c. 



As used for a Catalogue, I fear its trinomial scheme will 

 condemn it, in these days when, — in Di\ Sharp's own Cata- 

 logue (1871), for instance, — even abbreviations of authors' 

 names for genera are not tolerated, and the author's names 

 following species are curtailed frequently to a single letter. 



While discussing books concerning Entomology, it may 

 not be out of place, referring to Mr. Walton's excellent notes 

 hereafter quoted, and for the benefit of those who possess 

 a copy of them (my own was given to me in 1859 by Mr. F. 

 Smith, as from Mr. Walton, shortly before the death of 

 the latter: — vidi tantum!), to remark that the date "1844" 

 attached to those notes in their collected form, and, much 

 more, the express statement on the title " [From the Annals 

 and Magazine of Natural History for 1844.] " are very likely 

 to mislead incautious quoters. The real dates, &c. are given 

 on the two following pages (of which duplicates will be 

 found at the end of this " Annual," for annexing to the 

 separate copies of Mr. Walton's notes) : — 



i 



