New Zealand and Auntral/an fdrms of Lepidoptera. GO 



says it appears that lie prefers a nomenclature which gives 

 appropriate names to none of the veins, but numbers them all 

 backwards: in the same way if INIi-. Meyrick wished to describe 

 the skeleton of a man, he \\T)uld obviously begin with the bones 

 of the great toe — " bone one, l)one two," and so on up to the top 

 of the skull. Thouffh this plan has, as Mr. Mevrick observes 

 the merit of great simplicity, it has also the demerit of giving 

 different numbers to the same vein even in allied genera; it 

 exhibits the genus standing on its head instead of on its base, 

 as every properly constituteil creation ought to stand. But, to 

 proceed — Is Mr. Meyrick a consistent follower of this system ? 

 If so, why should he speak of so "awkward and confusing" a 

 thing as '' the upper surface of the louver median vein* " ? Are 

 there two middles to the wing? If not, there cannot be two 

 median veins, and I do not wonder that ]\Ir. Meyrick has to add 

 the caution " Care must be taken to note the right vein." 



]\ry critic proceeds to state, in the following page, that — " It 

 must also be especially borne in mind that the form of the 

 Avi'igs is in general almost valueless for generic distinction, and 

 should never be relied on," and vet on turning to page i), we 

 find that the only character not shared by the genera allied to 

 Scenoploca, Meyr., consists in "the abbreviated wings of the 

 fem<ale"; so that the male, in anv kev to these genera, coidd 

 not ranii'B alonu'side of its own female. 



Turning now to the genera and species, I find on page 8 a 

 new genus described under the name of ('r?//)f(i7iiima (a familiar 

 sounding name, Init possibly not })reviously used ; which I regret 

 to say is not always the case with this author's generic appel- 

 lations), and as a synonym Walker's genus Gadira is (|Uoted, 

 without the slightest permissible explanationf as to why the 

 latter name is rejected, though doubtless good and sufficient 

 reasons may exist. 



On page 15 some strange remarks are made respecting 

 Diptychophora metaUifera, of which Mr. Mej-rick admits that he 



* To be consistent they should be vein 2 and fi or 7 or 8; all depend- 

 ing upon the number of radials and subcostal Viranches. 



t That on p. 4 will only be admitted by Meyrick himself, it is alto- 

 gether revolutionary. 



