PRlil'ACE VU 



W. Denison Roebuck, the late W. A. Rollrson, O. R. Koutlcdge, thu 

 late Edward Saunders, ?>ic Shaw , Alfred SIlIi, W. 1''. Sladen, W, 

 Slater, L. Smith, C. A. I,. Sniits \an Biir<;st, R. iUiriicss Sopp, R. 

 South, F. W. Sowfrbv, the lale K. (]. j. Sparke, Dr. S. 15. Sledman, 

 W. B. Thornhill, Rev. Alfred ThorulcN', j. R. le B. Tonilin, A. K. Tonge, 

 W. H. Tuck, J. C. Wainwrii^ht, Rev. j. Waterst(>'i, llu- late C. J. 

 Watkins, W. ?:. Wattam, F. J. Whittle," j. Wi^gin, C. H. Williams, 

 H. Wood, Col. j. W. Yerbury. To Frnest A. Elliott, F.Z.S., 1 owe not 

 only the inception and completion of the work, as I stated ten years ago, 

 but the conviction that without his steadv and unwearying assistance in 

 its ever)' branch the present volumes could never have attained whatever 

 degree of perfection may be allotted to them. 



I leave you with Stephen Stone's assurance (The Naturalist, i\', p. 1 1) 

 that "Whether we reflect on the infinite wisdom which the Almighty has 

 displayed in the ordinary provision He has made for keeping within due 

 limits the different classes of beings He has formed, of which the habits 

 and economy of the Ichneumonidae afford us a familiar example ; or 

 whether we consider His infinite goodness in a like provision for the 

 preservation of each i)articular species, which to the observer of Nature 

 will in a thousand ways manifest itself; we shall scarcely fail to find 

 awakened within us feelings of a holy devotion, of fervent piety, and of 

 the highest adoration of Him who, allhougli He inhabiteth Eternity, 

 though His dwelling-place is in the highest Heaven, yet condescendeth 

 to provide for the life and enjoyment of the meanest creature upon 

 earth — of Him who 



" Gives the lustre to an insect's wing, 

 And wheels His throne upon the rolling worlds" 



or, as Professor Peck has it: Eminet in minimus maximus ipse Deus. 



CLAUDE .M OR LEV. 

 Monks' Soham House, Suffolk.. 

 J/i7j' is/, igij. 



