The Rev. F. W. Hope on Succinic Insects. 137 



I do not believe, for out of many hundred specimens, nay I may 

 say thousands, which have fallen under my notice, none have yet 

 induced me to change my opinion that they are otherwise than of 

 the tertiary period. If the reader desire further information on 

 these points, let him consult the elaborate writings of Schweigger 

 and Dalman, and the eloquent Berendt. In the pages of the former 

 he will find a scorpion figured from Prussian amber, which is a genus 

 properly a native of warm climates, certainly never occurring so far 

 north as Dantzig. A new genus of spiders described by the same 

 writer approaches in its characters a southern and probably an 

 American type. I may add also that Formica Surinamensis, or at 

 least one like it, has already been recognised in amber ; and that 

 some insects of the following genera, viz. Gyrinus, Saperda, Hispa, 

 and Lamprosoma, evince a South American relationship, while the 

 Blattid<£ and some of the Hymenoptera resemble closely Oriental 

 species. The presence of Phryganea, Ephemera, Panorpa, and Lep- 

 tura, and many other genera indicates a northern climate. From the 

 above discrepancies I abstain at present from entering more largely 

 into the geographical investigation of amber-insects, and reserve it 

 for some future paper ; but from what has already been adduced, may 

 we not conclude that the climate and temperature of Europe have 

 undergone considerable change } The above examples of tropical 

 insects sufficiently testify that the amber-tree did not vegetate under 

 a climate such as Prussia now enjoys, but in a warm region. I 

 trust the above notices will aflford a sufficient stimulus to induce 

 others to take in hand a subject replete with interest; a subject 

 embracing in its scope not only the changes of temperature and 

 climate which our globe has undergone, but also the consideration 

 of the geographical distribution of insects and plants, by which alone 

 we can arrive at any satisfactory conclusion respecting them. Let 

 then the geologist boast of his Mastodon and Megatherium, his 

 wondrous Saurian Reptiles, and numerous genera of unknown be- 

 ings ; the entomologist also prides himself on his Amber Insects, ri- 

 valling the former in antiquity, and surpassing them in beauty and 

 in colouring. Let the former add I'oom to room, gallery to gallery, 

 and fill a city with his relics and his casts, the latter may also rest 

 contented with his stores, less bulky indeed though not less inter- 

 esting. The earth is a study for them both, an inexhaustible field 

 of inquiry, and it may be matter of question which will most contri- 

 bute to illustrate the condition and character of its earliest tenants. 



