OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 49 



ther a Swede, a German, or a Frenclunaii; whether a 

 native of Kurope, of Asia, of America, or of Africa, 

 knows instantly the very species that is meant, and can 

 that moment ascertain whether it be w itliin his reach. 

 If the species be new and undcscribed, it is only neces- 

 sary to indicate the genus to which it belongs, the spe- 

 cies to which it is most nearly allied, and to describe it 

 in scientific terms, which may be done in few words, 

 and it can at once be recognised by every one acquainted 

 with the science. 



You will think it hardly credible that there should 

 be so mucii difficulty in describing an insect intelligi- 

 bly without the aid of system ; but an argiimentian ad 

 hominem, supported by some other facts, will, I con- 

 jecture, render this matter more comprehensible. You 

 have doubtless, like every one else, in the showery 

 days of summer, felt no little rage at the Jlies^ which 

 at such times take the liberty of biting our legs, and 

 contrive to make a comfortable meal through the in- 

 terstices of their silken or cotton coverings. Did it, I 

 pray, ever enter intoyourconception, that those blood- 

 thirsty tormentors are a different species from those 

 flies which you are wont to see extending the lips of 

 their little proboscis to a piece of sugar or a drop of 

 wine ? I dare say not* But the next time you have 

 sacrificed one of the former to your just vengeance, 

 catch one of the latter and compare them. I question 

 if, after the narrowest comparison, you will not still 

 venture a wager that they are the very same species. 

 Yet you would most certainly lose your bet. They 

 are not even of the same genus — one belonging to the 

 genus Musca (M. domestica, L.), and the other to the 



VOL. I. E 



