'8 Dr. Lichtenstein's Dijfertation on two Natural Genera 



Thefe companies I divide, laflly, according to the eyes, each into two 

 parties ; of which the firft contains thofe with round eyes, the ferond 

 thoie with angular eyes. This apparently trifling minutenefs or pe- 

 dantry gives fo-ufctul a thread to guide us to the determination of 

 each fpecies of phafnia or mantis that occurs, and makes it ib eafy 

 to any one who will pay the leaft attention to inveftigate if and 

 where fuch an.infefl has been defcribed, that I do not confider the 

 time and trouble as loft which I have fpent on the difcovery of 

 thefe fubtilties. True fyftematical proficients in entomology, who 

 love truth and order, will richly repay this Liborcm in tenui by the 

 approbation which they may be pleafed to beftow on it. I will not 

 here attempt a prolix vindication of my having been obliged to alter 

 entirely the defcription of the genus Mantis^ and compofe new ones 

 diPhafma and of Mantis^ nor of the great difference frequently to 

 be found between my defcriptions of the fpecies and thofe of Linne or 

 Fabricius. True judges will tiiemfelves difcover my reafons. Such 

 asregard only authority I can afTure, that Fabricius approves of my 

 innovations. Amateurs and fliarp-fighted obfervers, who are not fond 

 of the technical and fcholafticlanguage, -I refer to StoU, whom I have 

 accurately quoted; to Fueffly's ^rc/6/wx, and to the Figures which I 

 have here given; but efpecially to natural fpecimens. Perhaps many 

 perfons will be reconciled to me on examining a well-ftorfid colledlion, 

 who on the bare reading of the following Latin defcriptions will have 

 fliaken their heads, or fecretly condemned me as an unauthorized 

 pedantic innovator. In thefe infefts the colours often deceive; partly 

 becaufe they are frequently deftroyed by the fpirits in which the 

 fpecimens had at firft been preferved ; partly, becaufe the hemelytra 

 frequently become fpotted from thin drops of pus being thrown out 

 and adhering to them when they are ftiick through with pins. Hence, 

 the pun^a fparfa elylrorum, to which one muft never truft, unlefs 

 ithey agree precifely on both hemelytra. Sapientifat. 



119— 20PHASiM«^ 



