41 



share in tliis, the great feature of the work; and I am compelled to 

 })lace the chaplet of laurel on the brows of Mr. Swainson alone, — 

 palmam qui meruit ferat ! Many parts of Mr. Swainson's theory are 

 somewhat above my comprehension ; this arises, doubtless, from his 

 considering his readers far advanced in his views : he occasionally 

 makes assertions which the uninitiated are scarcely prepared to ad- 

 mit ; for instance, the following. 



"As the primary groups of the Annulosa are thus found to represent 

 those of the Yertebrata, it follows, as a necessary consequence, that 

 they equally represent all other groups, large or small, which agree 

 in having analogies with the vertebrate series. This is one of the 

 consequences of the law of universal representation, tvJtich, while it 

 saves a world of explanatory details, reduces all the variations of 

 animal forms to one and the same uniform law." — p. 15. How deeply 

 must every well regulated mind feel indebted to an author, who can 

 thus make assestions which save him a icorld of explanatory detail ! 

 I feel rejoiced that one superior mind has settled for ever the gigantic 

 subject of insect classification ; for as Mr. Swainson beautifully re- 

 marks, — " Every year brings forth a new theory, not of all animals, 

 but of insects only, until entomological classification, having no foun- 

 dation in inductive philosophy, is now become a quicksand, shifting 

 with every tide that flows " ! To deliver us from this quicksand, to 

 purge the mind fi'om idle speculation, to establish a natural and un- 

 exceptionable classification, is the high object of the present volume. 



I conclude this notice by extracting the most illustrative table which 

 I can find : it will at once exhibit Mr. Swainson's views, and demon- 

 strate the tact with which he detects analogies which have been hid- 

 den from all other observers, and unless disclosed by him might have 

 remained hidden to the end of time. 



Analogies of the Hemiptera to the Coleoptera. 



Families Tiibes Tribes 



of the of the Analogies. of the 



Prcdatores. Hemiptera. C'oleoj>tera. 



/-I- ■ J i-i r. f Rapacious; feeding upon other) T)„^„..^^„r^^ 



Cicindehda. Cimicides. 1 • i I "REDatcres. 



/-« i-j r^ ( Saprophaprous ; feedinnr upon ) j .^, , ,^^„»,-„^ 



Carabidce. Cicadides. | iegetable fluids. ^ | I^^mellicornes. 



Dyticid(B. Aleyrodes. ? Malacodermes. 



4.-.-I i-j i-1 { Body short, oval ; antennEB mo-) i\t„»,„ ,^„„»,t.o 



SilfhidcB. CocciDEs. I ailifoiTn; frequently apterous.} Monilicornes. 



StaphylinidcB. Aphides. AuteunEe very long and slender. Capricornes. 



Edward Newman. 



