42 TRAXSA.CTIONS OF THE [NOV. 16, 



The vanity of the patrons was well rccompcnseel b}' the grand 

 display of their armorial bearings and surrounding accessories, 

 'or the titles. 



For a time, these grand picture books prevailed, but there was 

 progressing a degree of observation and exploration in all parts 

 of the woi'ld that had never been known before. Just before and 

 during the time of our revolution, in the last quarter of the 

 eighteenth century, there were numerous authors on MoUusca, 

 Insecta, Crustacea, and the other lower invertebrates; zoology 

 was advancing with amazing rapidity. 



In England, the progress was now not so rapid, judging from 

 the comparative paucity of zoological publications. Inverte- 

 brate zoology had from the earliest been only incidental in its 

 development with the higher branches. The celebrated British 

 zoologist Pennant, a scliolarly man, gave an impetus to the 

 science which it greatly needed. White, of Selborne,.with his fas- 

 cinating popular talk, stirred the young an<l old with the descrip- 

 tions of nature's wonders seen at our very doors. . 



Scopoli, a botanical professor at Pavia, produced an " Entomology 

 of Carniola," 17G3, one volume Pvo. He does not follow Lin- 

 nreus implicitly, and adds some new genera. He writes, however, in 

 the true spirit of the Sijstema JSfatnriB. He was author of three 

 other works on natural history. Later, 8choefIer, of Ilatisbon, 

 published his expensive and voluminous Elemeiiia Enfomologica, 

 Kegensburg, 1?(3G. It relates chiefly to the insects of his native 

 province. Tiiough poorly executed, the figures are yet regarded 

 as valuable for reference. He, too, endeavored to set up a system 

 of his own, recorded in the above work. Curiously, he did not 

 use specific names. Schoeffer was a clergymen, of moderate 

 abilities, but industrious as a writer. 



The immense number of new species of insects now ac- 

 cumulated required the genius of some competent naturalist to 

 arrange them in harmony with the system then prevailing. 

 Fabricius, the favorite disciple of Linna3us, commenced in 1775 

 to publish the voluminous matter. He was so impressed with 

 the opportunity for a new scheme of a natural system, like many 

 others, before and since his day, that he devised an entirely 

 new method, and succeeded in making his arrangement more 

 artificial than that he had pretended to build on. His generic 

 characters were founded entirely on the mouth and its parts. 

 Linnaiushad practically resigned all attention to entomology, in 

 favor of his pupil, Fabricius; consequently, the latter naturally 

 became the acknowledged leader in that branch of science. 

 The considerable length of life and the great amount of writing 

 of this naturalist caused him to be thus prominent during aperiod 

 of thirty years. He lived to witness the change in his system, and 

 to see and feel the influence of Latreille's transcendent genius. 



