EVOLUTION AND TAXONOMY. 



An Essay on the Appi,ic/vtion of the Theory of Natural Se- 

 lection IN THE Classification of Animals and Plants, Il- 

 lustrated BY A Study of the Evolution of the Wings of 

 Insects, and by a Contribution to the Classification of 



THE LEPIDOPTERA. 



By JOHN HENRY COMSTOCK. 



PART I. 



A PROPOSED METHOD STATED. 



It is now thirty-four years since the publication of Darwin's 

 Origin of Species ; and the great war of opinions which had 

 been imminent for some time, and which broke forth on the 

 appearance of that work, has been fought to a conclusion. 

 There remains no contest except that of a healthy competition 

 in reaping the fruits of the victory. Naturalists differ in their 

 opinions as to details but the great principle of evolution has 

 been firmly established, and our methods of thought have 

 been revolutionized in consequence. 



Notwithstanding this I do not believe that the systematists 

 of to-day are making as much use of the theory of descent in 

 taxonomic work as they might. We are still busy describing 

 species as if they were immutable entities ; and in our descrip- 

 tions we give little thought to the causes that have determined 

 the forms of organisms. It is true that considerable has been 

 done in the direction of working out the phylogeny of the 

 larger groups, as branches and classes, and to a less extent of 

 orders. But rarely is any effort made to determine the phy- 

 logeny of the smaller groups. 



Here I believe lies the work of the systematist of the future. 

 The description of a species, genus, family or order, will be 

 considered incomplete until its phylogeny has been determined 

 so far as is possible with the data at hand. We are to care less 

 for the mere discovery of new forms, and more for an under- 



