Mr. Scudder also, in several memoirs published by the Boston 

 Society of Natural History, has added considerably to our know- 

 ledge of fossil insects. He describes several new species of 

 insects belonging to the Devonian period, all of which are allied, 

 or belong, to the Neuroptera, using the word in the widest sense. 

 The general conclusions to which he arrives are that — 



There is nothing in the structure of these earliest known insects 

 to interfere with the former conclusions that the general 

 type of wing- structure has remained unaltered from the 

 earliest times. 



The Devonian insects were all lower Heterometabola. As wings 

 are the only part preserved, we cannot tell from the 

 remains preserved whether they belong to sucking or to 

 biting insects. 



They bear little special relation to carboniferous forms, having a 

 distinct facies of their own. 



The Devonian insects were of great size, had membranous wings, 

 and were probably aquatic in early life. 



They show a remarkable variety of structure, indicating an 

 abundance of insect life at that epoch, and differ remarkably 

 from all other known types, ancient and modern ; some of 

 them appearing to be even more complicated than their 

 nearest living allies. 



We appear, therefore, he says, "to be no nearer the beginning 

 of things in the Devonian epoch than in the Carboniferous, 

 so far as either greater unity or simplicity of structure is 

 concerned" ; and these earlier forms cannot in his opinion 

 be used to any better advantage than the carboniferous 

 tyjDes in support of any special theory of the origin of 

 insects. Still Mr. Scudder expresses the conviction that 

 some original and still earlier "unknown comprehensive 

 types did exist, and should be sought." 



Mr. Ryder has described, in the ' American Naturalist,' an 

 interesting genus allied to the very curious little centipede, 

 Fauropus. It possesses the same number of legs, but, according 

 to Mr. Ryder, only six segments, two pairs of legs being attached 

 to the second, third, fourth, and fifth segments, not counting the 

 head. I should be disposed to consider that, as he himself 

 suspected, the head really consists of two segments, and that the 



