104 B.C. Entomological Society. 



forms. My own feeling in the matter is that the latter method is the 

 more convenient and understandable one. You know that in most 

 catalogues of Lepidoptera the butterflies come first. Well, even accord- 

 ing to their own principles of classification, the authors acknowledge that 

 in the natural order of things some of the other families are ec^ually 

 specialized, but. v.ith the exception of Meyrick, they do not seem to have 

 the courage of their convictions, and prefer to follow precedent. In the 

 preface to Dr. Dyar's List it is stated: — 



" I have placed the butterflies first since they seem, on the whole, 

 ' higher ' than the moths, and this course agrees with the usual custom. 

 I follow with the Sphingidfe and Saturnians for the same reasons, 

 although, in venation, they are more generalized than some of the 

 Noctuid groups. - The list, as a whole, proceeds from higher to lower 

 forms, as in Staudinger and Rebel's catalogue." 



The following" quotation is from the same preface: — 



"Within the last ten years (1892 to 1902) the classification of the 

 Lepidoptera has been radically altered. No -exact consensus of opinion 

 as to the proper sec|uence of families and genera has been reached ; but 

 the recent workers arc so closely in accord as to the principles involved 

 and the resultant general scheme that we seem to be somewhere near a 

 natural classification." 



The radical alteration of the classification just referred to was 

 principally caused by the discovery of the importance of the neuration 

 of the wings of Lepidoptera in determining their phylogeny. In 1895 

 Edward Meyrick published a Handbook of British Lepidoptera on this 

 scheme which revolutionized the study. Although many authors have 

 not agreed with Meyrick's arrangement, the result of his method is very 

 remarkable and convincing. I will quote what Meyrick says in his 

 introduction : — 



" It is now admitted that the resemblances of allied genera and 

 species are to be explained by community of descent. Hence a system 

 of classification will be natural or artificial, according as it does or 

 does not keep steadily in view this princiijle. with which all sound 

 results must 1)e consistent. ^Vhen it has been decided that a number 

 of genera possess so much mutual resemblance in structure that they 

 may be regarded with probability as constituting a distinct branch of 

 the genealogical tree of the Lepidoptera (and this is what is meant by 

 family grouping), the question must arise: Which of these genera are 

 older than the others and which are the latest developments? It may 

 often be difficult and sometimes impossible to answer this, but in most 

 cases an approximate result can be reached by a consideration of the 

 following laws, viz. : — 



" I. No new organ can be produced except as a modification of some 

 previously existing structure. 



" 2. A lost organ cannot be regained. 



" 3. A rudimentary organ is rarely redeveloped. 



