THE CLASSIFICATION • 



OF THE 



lUIYNCHOPHOROUS COLEOPTERA/ 



BY 



JOHN L. LECONTE, M.D. 



[Reprinted from the American Naturalist for July, 1874. J 



At the meeting of the Academy held in Washington, Jan., 

 1867, I had the honor to offer some remarks f upon the S3'stem- 

 atic vaUie of the great complex of Coleopterous insects known 

 as Rhynehophora. 



It was my intention, as then stated, to follow the memoir just 

 mentioned with another, in which the classification of the Rhyn- 

 chophora and separation into families should be discussed, in the 

 hope of developing a more satisfactory system of arrangement 

 than had been thus far obtained. 



Circumstances have prevented me from following this par- 

 ticular line of investigation to a definite result, until within a 

 short time, though it has frequently occupied my attention for 

 brief intervals. The time, however, has not been altogethei' 

 lost, for I found that, with each return to the investigation, I 

 obtained an additional, tliough small insight into the constitution 

 of this complex, which has been the subject of repeated efforts 

 by the most laborious and successful students of entomology in 

 Europe. 



* Read before the National Academy of Siiienees, Washington, April 21, 1874. 

 t Am. Jour. Science and Arts, xliv, Jul}', 13G7. 



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