136 The Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects. 



With regard to lizards and shells being found in amber there is 

 now little doubt of its truth ; making even ample allowance for mo- 

 dern trickery and imposition (of which indeed there is no lack,) we 

 have still the testimony of Pliny, who states : " Liquidum primo di- 

 stillare argumento sunt qusedam intus translucentia ut Formicce aut 

 Culices Lacertaque quas adhsesisse musteo non est dubium et in- 

 clusas indureseenti." Vid. lib. xxxvii. cap. 3. At St. Gard, in 

 France, amber is found in a bed of fossil wood mixed with numerous 

 specimens of shells denominated AmpuUaria, one species of which 

 is named AmpuUaria Faujasii ; and other shells of the genera Palu- 

 dina and Helix have also been discovered imbedded in the same 

 substance. For a moment we must refer to the geologist for his 

 information. On the authority of Mr. De la Beche I state that the 

 Prussian deposit of lignite and amber belongs to the tertiary rocks, 

 and its place is probably above the suj^racretaceous group ; little 

 however is satisfactorily known at present respecting it. It is not 

 unlikely that the amber of Sicily may belong to another period ; and 

 as scarcely any specimens from that quarter * have come under my 

 notice, I cannot state that the genera contained in them approach 

 the forms of temperate or tropical climes. 



It was my intention here to have added Tables of the genera of 

 amber-insects which have fallen under my observation ; and I only 

 refrain from doing so at present from a desire to make them as per- 

 fect as possible, expecting shortly to receive from Prussia many im- 

 portant additions to those I am acquainted with. There is evidently 

 no want of species of amber-insects, although they are not so numer- 

 ous as those contained in anime f. The celebrated Swamraerdam 

 had in his collection 1G6 species of Coleoptera, and Frisch more than 

 200; Berendt possesses more than 1000 specimens, among which 

 however there are many duplicates. The number nf described ge- 

 nera already recognised by me amounts to 83 ; there are also various 

 others as yet uncharacterized, several of them belonging to tempe- 

 rate climes, and several which are probably tropical. The major 

 part of the insects exhibit a close resemblance to existing species, 

 and can be satisfactorily classed under published genera. That any 

 of those which are found in amber are identical with existing species 



* Since writing this account I have received a letter fiom Mr. Berendt giving a 

 concise account of Sicilian amber. He states that it scarcely differs from that of the 

 Baltic, except that opalescent pieces frequently occur in Sicily, which are rarely 

 found in Prussia. 



f [At the request of the Publication Committee the Tables of amber-insects in 

 their present state have been added at the end of this Memoir. — Sec. E. S.] 



