MEMOIR. Ixv 
HT. W. Bates to Dr. J. D. Hooker. 
‘622, HARWOOD STREET, HAVERSTOCK HILL, N.W., 
“* May 12th, 1863. 
‘““My DEAR DR. HOOKER, 
‘‘ Many thanks for the good service you have rendered me, and for 
the advice as to future work. 
‘IT am afraid I need the spur a little as to wrz¢z7g, but I am sure none is 
necessary in the matter of ‘ cabinet working,’ which Dr. Gray prizes so much ; 
for I am always at it—naming, arranging, labelling, etc.—when other more 
important matters are waiting. 
‘‘ On Monday morning I fell into a nest of hornets at British Museum, in 
the shape of a knot of the leading curators (Dr. Gray at the head) criticising 
fiercely my statement of having found 8,000 new species out of 14,700. 
“IT should be very vexed if it came to get abroad amongst naturalists that 
I had exaggerated, but I have not exaggerated; how could they suppose I 
should make the statement without a preliminary calculation. The truth is 
that in all the groups of insects which have been so far welZ worked out, 
more than two-thirds of my species were new to science. 
“‘These few groups already worked are partly the most conspicuous 
amongst insects—a greater proportion of new species will be found in the 
more obscure orders and families. 
‘« There are exceedingly few new mammals or birds, but the insects of the 
Amazons (especially Upper Amazons) were very generally new. 
‘* The following is a list of species of a few of the best worked groups :— 
Total No. New 
Collected. Species. 

Cicindelidz (mostly named by Chaudoir, of saaiaeetic nat 55 32 
Agra (by Chaudoir, Moscow) . 44 37 
Longicornes (as far as published by myself in pts 
Nat. Hist., 1861-2) . , 4): 33 59 
Colydiida (by Pascoe, fourm. af ee. No. 8) : «39 39 
(all new) 
Haltice (by Clark, ‘‘ British Museum Catalogue”’’) . BI Oe) €6 
Endomychidze be self, 5 ARsa o LEntom. ) : : eo II 
Papilio . : : Pe I5 
Pieridze ¥ é ; : ; : : < -. 40 18 
Heliconidz : : : . ‘ : : axe 47 
477 324 

‘‘ Thus 324 out of 477 are new—a very much larger proportion than 8,000 
out of 14,700. I repeat that in all the obscure small groups of diptera, 
hymenoptera, moths, etc., of which I sent home some thousands of species, 
still unnamed for most part, the proportion of new species will be still greater. 
‘‘T mean absolutely zew species to Europe; for if you examine Clark’s 
‘British Museum Catalogue of Halticide,’ you will find that a// my new 
sfeczes did not exist in collection before they were sent home by me. 
‘** Yours sincerely, 
“i. W. BATES,” 
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