the Coleoptera of North America.’ 169 
entire underside, and of the various modifications of the an- 
tenne, tarsi, &c. which occur in the order. 
The basis of operations being thus defined, they proceed 
with the actual classification by dividing the whole order into 
two primary divisions, wage £° Coleoptera genuina” and 
“ Rhynchophora.” 
The former of these divisions, for which the term ‘ Stoma- 
tophora’’ would have been more consonant, and also indicative 
of the normal position of the mouth, is then divided into two 
subdivisions, termed respectively “ ‘Tsomera” and “ Hetero- 
mera;” and the Isomera are separated into five series, viz. 
*¢ Adephaga, _ Clavicornia, Serricornia, Lamellicornia, and 
Phytophaga.” 
It appears to me that the arrangement of the Isomera would 
be much improved by placing the Lamellicornia at the com- 
mencement of the subdivision, a change long ago suggested b 
Dr. Burmeister and Mr. Crotch, and even alluded to in the 
work before us. While the other series are more or less in- 
timately connected with each other, the Lamellicornia alone 
are isolated and distinct from all. The authors of this classi- 
fication, in order to bring into contact the closely allied Clavi- 
cornia and Serricornia, have removed the Lamellicornia from 
' their ancient position “between those series, and have placed 
them next in succession to the Serricornia, and immediately 
preceding the Phytophaga. But I cannot perceive that any 
improvement has been effected by this change. ‘he Lamelli- 
cornia are as much, if not more, out of place between the 
Serricornia and the Longicorn group of the Phytophaga, as 
they were in their previous position. ‘To place the Lamelli- 
cornia at the commencement of the order seems to be the only 
way to obviate this difficulty of classification. 
In support of such an arrangement many collateral argu- 
ments may be adduced. As in the Mammalia man is allowed 
to take the lead as the most highly organized and pertect of 
the class, so in the Coleoptera, by a parity of reasoning, the 
first place should be assigned to the Lamellicornia, since they 
are the most highly organized and the most pertectly deve- 
loped of that order. Again, among Coleoptera the Lamelli- 
cornia may be regarded as the representatives of the existing 
period of the universe, specially adapted to the present condi- 
tions of this planet ; while, on the other hand, the Rhyncho- 
phora, exhibiting the most primeval and original form, and 
possessing the most rudimentar y and often defective anatomy, 
are probably, according to Dr, LeConte’s theory, the most 
ancient series*of the whole order. 
The Lamellicornia and the Rhynchophora should therefore 
