100 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



In 1866 the late Mr. Shuckavd, author of 'Essay on the 

 Indigenous Fossorial Hyinenoptera,' — a volume of great 

 research, — issued a philosophical, but somewhat incomplete, 

 work, intituled 'British Bees: an Introduction to the 

 Study of the Natural History and Economy of the Bees 

 Indigenous to the British Isles.' I say " incomplete," inas- 

 much as the species are not systematically described, and the 

 "natural history" of the bees we find under the "general 

 observations" which are appended to the "general character" 

 at the head of each genus. This plan has the advantage of 

 admitting a discursiveness of style, which might be out of 

 place in a more scientific and systematic work; but at the 

 same time it allows a vagueness altogether at variance with 

 the precision of true science. As an instance of this vague- 

 ness, the author says that " All the facts recorded, without 

 reference to authorities, are the result either of personal 

 observation or of diligent study, which, from the length of 

 lime that has intervened, have become so blended in my 

 mind that I can no longer separate their sources." So that the 

 author both assumes the Whevly oi approprmtinc/ the researches 

 of others without acknowledgment, and of repudiating pass- 

 ages which may hereafter be pointed out as erroneous, on 

 the plea that they are, in all probability, copied from others. 

 This seems hardly fair to those who have laboured long and 

 assiduously in the same field. Thus the principle of siium 

 ciiique is altogether ignored. Hence we scarcely know for 

 what portion of the following remarks we are to give Mr. 

 Shuckard the credit of originality : — 



" They are not uncommon insects ; and I have found them 

 abundant in sandy spots sporting in the sunshine on the bare 

 ground, where they run about with great activity ; the 

 females chiefly, the males the while disporting themselves 

 on any flowers that may be adjacent ; and they are especially 

 fond of ragwort. Their prevalent colours are black and red, 

 the latter occurring only on the abdomen in different degrees 

 of intensity and extension, and sometimes limited to a band 

 across it. Much difficulty attaches to the determination of 

 the species, from the characters which separate them being 

 exceedingly obscure, for it is not safe to depend on the 

 differences in the arrangement of colour upon them, as it 

 varies infinitely ; nor can their relative sizes be depended 



