Neiv Zealand Coleoptera. 75 



the New Zealand beetles, for they do not seem to reflect 

 credit on the classifications into which they are to be 

 forced. While the work is thus premature and unfortu- 

 nate in its conception, its execution is perhaps even more 

 deficient. Taking as an instance almost the first page 

 — the commencement of the Carabides on p. 6 — we find 

 the family commences with the group MigadtypidcB, 

 which is supposed to be characterised by the words, 

 " Mesothoracic epimera not reaching the middle coxte "; 

 this is unfortunately exactly the opposite of the truth, 

 and what should have been written was " Mesothoracic 

 epimera reaching the middle coxae." Even, however, if 

 the writer had not fallen into this profound error of 

 expression, and had given the definition correctly, it 

 would have been quite insufiicient and misleading, for in 

 the definitions of the other groups of the family no 

 mention whatever is made of this character ; and thus, 

 although the two first groups of New Zealand Carabides, 

 viz., Migadopidce and Scaritidce, differ from all the other 

 groups by the point alluded to, this fact is concealed, 

 not expressed by the work in question. This is a fair 

 sample of the mode of execution of the work. I find, 

 as another example, the Lucanidce, which I have had 

 occasion to test specially, to be very deficient as regards 

 the number of species recorded, the synonymy, and the 

 referring of the older species to their correct genera ; and 

 if the Lucanidce are in this state, what the condition of 

 the moi'e difficult groups may be can scarcely be 

 imagined, but it is certainly very bad indeed ; species 

 belonging to previously-described genera are placed 

 either in wrong old genera or in new genera, while 

 a constant feeling of annoyance is occasioned by the 

 fact that the original parts of the work are not dis- 

 tinguished from the reproduced parts, so that one never 

 knows without collation, except by an inference which 

 may or may not be correct, whether any particular 

 passage is due to the author, or is a reproduction from 

 some one else ; and the pronoun " I " in the book means 

 very various writers. 



I make these remarks in no spirit of captious criti- 

 cism ; it would give me the most hearty pleasure 

 to acknowledge a real increase of knowledge about 

 New Zealand beetles, and to congratulate the Colonial 

 Museum Department on assisting in the promotion 

 of such knowledge, and it is in the hope that Captain 



