NOMENCLATIVE OF LEPIDOPTERA. 205 



adopted by Ochsenheirner in 1816 {vide ' Schm. Eur.' iv. p. viii), who 

 regretted that he had not been able to employ any of the ' Tentamen ' 

 names in his third volume (1810), as at that time he had not seen 

 a copy. Ochsenheirner moreover writes : — ' Herr Hiibner hat unter 

 dem Titel Tentamen . . . den Entwurf eines Systems der Schmetter- 

 linge auf einem Quartblatte abgedruckt herausgegeben,' &c. This can 

 only mean that the ' Tentamen ' was published on a quarto sheet of 

 paper by Hiibner. 



" Now as to date. Sir G. Hampson, in his opinion, No. 3, seems 

 to doubt that Hiibner refers to the ' Tentamen ' in the preface to the 

 'Verzeichniss.' Let Hiibner speak for himself (' Verz. bek. Schm.' 3 

 (1816) ) : — ' Die Grundlage dieses Entwurfes habe ich sogleich, unter 

 dem Titel : Tentamen determinationis digestionis atque denominationis 

 singularium stirpium Lepidopterorum bekannt gemacht, damit sie von 

 Verstandigen, bevor ich sie annahme, gepriift und beurtheilt werden 

 rnochte.' Compare the words italicised with the title of the ' Tenta- 

 men' : — ' Tentamen determinationis digestionis atque denominationissingu- 

 larium stirpium Lepidopterorum, peritis ad inspiciendum et dijudicandum 

 communicatum, a Jacobo Hiibner.' 



" The words in italics are absolutely the same as those quoted in 

 the preface to the ' Verzeichniss,' and it is impossible to imagine that 

 they were used in reference to any other work than the ' Tentamen.' 

 This being accepted as a fact, it is not difficult to arrive at the date of 

 publication of the ' Tentamen.' In the preface to the ' Verzeichniss ' 

 (p. 3) it is expressly stated that Hiibner drew up the ' Tentamen ' ' vor 

 zehn Jahren ' for his own purposes, and immediately made it known. 

 This preface was written in September, 1816, therefore 1816 - 10= 1806 

 (the approximate date of the ' Tentamen'). 



" Zeller, writting to W. H. Edwards, June 23rd, 1876, said : ' The 

 ' Tentamen' was printed not in 1806, but in 1805 ' ; but no reasons 

 were given for this emphatic assertion. 



" To recapitulate, Ochsenheirner informs us that the ' Tentamen ' 

 was published before 1810 ; Hiibner indicates the date of publication 

 as 1806 ; while Zeller says that it was printed in 1805. 



" The fact that Grlaitcopis for phegea is common to the ' Tentamen ' 

 and to Fabricius, 1808, proves nothing. Fabricius and Hiibner corre- 

 sponded, and either author may have used the name in MS. before the 

 publication of either work. 



" So far I have only dealt with the question of publication and the 

 acceptance of the ' Tentamen ' by Ochsenheirner ; there now remains 

 the question whether the ' Tentamen ' genera can be accepted as valid 

 from the standpoint of a modern zoologist. 



" The British Association Committee laid down two essential points 

 as necessary before any zoological term could acquire the right to 

 recognition in the following words (pp. 10, 11) : ' Two things are 

 necessary, before a zoological term can acquire any authority, viz. 

 definition and publication. ' 



"It has, I think, been proved that the essentials of publication 

 were complied with, for Sir G. Hampson's contention that Hiibner's 

 works were issued at irregular intervals, and were not published until 

 they were published by Geyer, cannot be taken seriously. All works 

 issued to subscribers have, after a time, a tendency to appear at 



