INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. *23 



class is this : " Palpi quatuor ; maxilla cornea, 

 compTcssa, s.^pe elongata. 



Before I consider how far this character may be 

 regarded as applicable, it will be proper to inquire 

 into the meaning of the terms which Fabricius has 

 employed to signify those parts from which he has 

 borrowed the characters of the class and its genera ; 

 to point out by what names they are distinguished 

 in the Tabula synoptica nomenclature partium of 

 the present work, and to refer to the figures de- 

 signed to represent them. This will enable the 

 reader to judge with precision how far the author 

 is warranted in the objections which he urges 

 asrainst the Fabrician system. 



Fabricius, in liis preface to his Genera Insec- 

 torum^ has assigned it as a reason for his omission. 

 of figures, that they would generate confusion in 

 the determination of species, on account of the 

 variations to which the Instrumenta ciharia are 

 subject in individuals of the same genus (c). But, 

 how good soever this argument might hold with 

 respect to generic characters ; yet, ^vhen new terms 

 are introduced into a science, or old ones used in 

 a new sense, to prevent mistakes and confusion, it 

 is extremely convenient, if not absolutely necessary, 

 that they should be illustrated by figures * And 

 when this author first laid his. system before the 

 public, the Instrumenta ciharia, upon which it is 

 fouilded, ought not only to have been defined 



(r) p. 8, g. 



c 1 clearly, 



