( Ixxvii ) 



known species over other orders of insects, rather than to 

 any actual superiority in numbers. Dr. Staudinger, in 

 the Introduction to his ' Catalogue of European Lepidoptera,' 

 says that no problem in Zoology seems to him more difficult 

 to solve than that of establishing a good classification of 

 Lepidoptera ; indeed, he says it seems to him seriously un- 

 surmountable, on account of the insufficiency of our know- 

 ledge of these creatures. He points out that any system 

 founded upon a fauna limited to any geographical region, 

 must be insufficient, and it is certain that up to the present 

 time our knowledge of all other than Diurnal Lepidoptera is 

 exceedingly partial, when considered in its relation to the 

 geographical area of their distribution. 



Another method of arriving at an approximate estimate of 

 the extent of the field of Entomology and of its relation to 

 other branches of biological study, is to examine the records 

 of scientific expeditions and faunistic research, but these are 

 for the most part very misleading, inasmuch as they depend 

 for their results upon the taste, knowledge, and inclination of 

 the different members of the staff employed, and are in few 

 cases, except over very limited areas, fairly and equally 

 representative of all branches of study. The only systematic 

 investigation of the fauna of any considerable area of the 

 globe, which can be in any sense regarded as approaching 

 completion, and as affording the necessary data for com- 

 parison, is to be found in the ' Biologia Centrali- Americana ' 

 of Godman and Salvin. It is no small honour to this 

 Society that the authors of such a work should have been 

 both members of our Council during the past year. Although 

 it can hardly be said that no branch of Natural History has 

 been neglected in this instance, the care with which all the 

 more important orders have been worked up affords fair 

 ground for comparative estimates. 



The area included in this laborious and carefully con- 

 ducted investigation amounts to about 900,000 square 

 miles, or about one 57th part of the whole surface of 

 land on the face of the globe, and may be taken to be an 

 area fairly representative of the comparative distribution of 



