— 1»— 



I. — There is na proof that the 'Tentamen' was ever pubhshed; even 

 if Hiibner distributed copies amongst his friends, that would not con- 

 stitute pubhcation, 



2. — There were no descriptions of any of the genera published at thr 

 time, and a name witiiout even the form of a description is worthless, 

 because — 



3. — There is no proof tliat the species in Hiibner's collection, to- 

 which a 'Tentamen' generic name was given, was iLlenlical with the spe- 

 cies now recognized under the same name. 



In the "Verzeichniss', on the other hand Hiibner did make some at- 

 tempt — feeble indeed, but still an attempt — to describe his genera; he 

 usuallj referred to figures or descriptions of his species and, lastlr, his 

 names have been largely adopted and redescribed in detail. 



In my opinion my friend Mr. Scudrier never made a greater mistake 

 than in dragging to the light that horrible 'Tentamen', a thing less valuable 

 than a bookseller's auction catalogue, yet wovshippcd (as though it had 

 been a long lost Bible recovered) by a certain class of Antiquarian Ento- 

 mologists." 



* * 



* 



In the Berliner Ent, Zeitschrift for 1886, there are some interesting 

 notes, some of which we reproduce : 



In the meeting of Oct. nth, Mr. Honrath reports from Mr. Ricardo 

 Rohde, that in Paraguay there exists a spider, immense colonies of which 

 web over entire groups of trees. In these nets beetles the size of D. 

 Iwnules were caught, and even moderate sized birds caught in the net are 

 hopelessly lost. ■ 



In the meeting of Nov. Sth, there were exhibited some specimens of 

 Silvanus surinameiisis, and the question of the food of the larva; and 

 beetles was discussed. It seems yet undecided whether- they are grain or 

 animal feeders, and both sides adduce proofs for their convictions. In 

 the Ent, Div. of the Dept. of Agriculture it has been dehnitely proved 

 that they are grain feeders, for a number of the beetles were confined with 

 perfectly clean- grain in a tight jar. The beetles and their progeny ate it 

 all up. On the other hand this does not prove that they do not also enjoy 

 animal food such as eggs and larvae of other insects, and conflicting ob- 

 servations may be reconcilable in that way. 



In the meedng of Nov. 15th, Mr. Honrath explained how he mended 

 butterflies. When a feeler is lost or broken, he carefully bores out the 

 point of insertion with a fine pin, puts in a trifle of fish glue and puts the 

 feeler into the opening thus made. Denuded spots on a wing can be 

 covered with a thin coat of Gum tragacanth, and similar scales from an- 

 other specimen of the same species can be dusted on. 



