-98- 



I do not feel called upon to dilate upon the general petulance of 

 Dr. Hamilton's letter, and will intrude but a little further upon your 

 valuable space. 



All entomological tables are condensed, synthetic statements, when 

 regarded in their entirety as genera or groups, but analytic with reference 

 to the species or genera which respectively compose them, so that the 

 surprise exhibited by our non-captious critic at my attempt to use a syn- 

 thetic table for analytic purposes is not very intelligible ; but, as before 

 indicated, the meaning which I wished to convey by the word synthesis, 

 and which has been so ingeniously misinterpreted, was two-fold viz: that 

 of too great concentration in tables, and the process of "slumping" closely 

 allied forms under a single characterization. In other words there are a 

 great many entomological tables in existence, of which one only was 

 cited as an example, which might be slightly less condensed, and, through 

 greater completeness, might be rendered less ambiguous. I am credited 

 here with having possibly made a discovery, but this is really too much 

 honor to be paid the mere statement of an axiom. 



Very truly yours, 



T. L. Casey. 

 <-»-♦ 



Note on Species of Boarmia. 

 By a. R. Grote, A. M. 



In reference to my descriptions of Western forms belonging to Bo- 

 armia and which are briefly discussed by Mr. Hulst on page 50, I would 

 state that my remark, on page 124 of Can. Ent. , Vol. XV, printed after 

 the description oi grisearia, should follow that of the ensuing species, 

 separataria. By a mistake, in transcribing my notes, I must have allowed 

 this comparison to follow the wrong species. The remark should read : 

 "This cannot be the male (not female) oi pulmonana." I made this re- 

 mark, as I recollect, because the undersurface was discolorous and im- 

 maculate though darker ihzn pub7ionarta, but the color of upper surface 

 and size and markings in detail lead me to consider the two distinct, not 

 sexes of one species, which Mr. Hulst suggests, and which doubt more 

 material will clear up. As to ru/aria, I rely upon the more cut off se- 

 condaries to prove its validity, but as I compare it wrongly with separa- 

 taria, this character may not hold good. As to its strange color I know 

 of no such instance in the genus. Mr. Hulst's remarks as to these seven 

 species, from his experience in the family, will doubtless allow of their 

 better arrangement, although in most cases my comparisons agree ; and 

 I am also of opinion that the species should stand until we have more 

 light. So far as I know, the variability of these gray, wavy-lined spanners, 



