vi PREFACE. 



Victor Audouin, professor of entomology at the Jardin des 

 Plantes, who has kindly permitted me to make unlimited use of 

 his unique collection and voluminous manuscripts relative to 

 the economy of insects in completing my present work. 



I have commenced the work with general observations on 

 insects, and then proceeded to divide them into orders : I have 

 afterwards taken up each order separately, dividing it into 

 families, and giving an account of the characters, habits, trans- 

 formations, and general distribution of the insects comprised 

 within each family, with an illustration of their characteristic 

 anatomical details and preparatory states. 



It is thus that I have endeavoured to make my work a fitting 

 "Sequel" to the Introduction to Entomology of Messrs. Kirby 

 and Spence, who, upon being made acquainted with its nature, 

 kindly sanctioned my thus styling it. That it may be deemed 

 worthy of such a title, and of a place by the side of their 

 volumes, is the highest object of my ambition. 



At the same time, in order that this work may serve as a 

 precursor to the works of Curtis, Stephens, &c., 1 have added 

 a synopsis of the British genera, brought down to the present 

 time. The idea of the addition of this synopsis was derived 

 from I^atreille's Considerations Gcnerales, in which the genera are 

 shortly characterised, and the names of the typical species given 

 in an Appendix. The additions of generic synonymes, references 

 to generic figures and indications of the number of British 

 species, will render the synopsis more complete, although it 

 must be evident that it can serve but as a guide to more ex- 

 tended research. * 



The numerous figures with which the work is illustrated are, 

 in almost every instance, original, and drawn by myself. 



1 cannot conclude this preface without alluding to the endless 



