OF INSECTS. 201 



;he wings, &c. The next step in the process of sub- 

 livision is commonly to families, which consist of a 

 up of genera agreeing in certain general characters. 

 Subordinate to this is the group termed a genus, com- 

 prehending species conformable to each other in all 

 3ssential parts and organs. The species is the lowest 

 gradation of all, unless a variety be taken into ac- 

 count ; the former has been well defined as a natural 

 )bject, whose differences, from those most nearly re- 

 ated to it, had their origin when it came from the 

 lands of the CREATOR, while those that characterise 

 ;he latter have been produced since that event. Other 

 groups, besides these, are occasionally adopted by sys- 

 tematists, but as scarcely two ever use them in pre- 

 cisely the same .acceptation, their value and import 

 must be learned from the definition each particular 

 author assigns to them. 



ORDER I. COLEOPTERA. 



We must refer to the volume on Coleoptera (Beetles), for 

 a full account of the peculiarities as well as the history 

 and representation of many of the most remarkable 

 species of this important order; and we shall here 

 content ourselves with giving such a brief notice of its 

 more prominent features, with a few supplementary 

 details, as will lead to a right understanding of the 

 method of division here followed, and prepare for a 

 more lengthened exposition of the following orders: 



