CHAPTER IX 



THE PINE COCKCHAFER 



IN writing Pine Cockchafer at the head of 

 this chapter, I am guilty of a deliberate 

 heresy: the insect's orthodox name is Fuller 

 Cockchafer (Melolontha fullo, LIN.). We 

 must not be fastidious, I know, in matters of 

 nomenclature. Make a noise of some sort, 

 give it a Latin termination and you will have, 

 as far as euphony goes, the equivalent of 

 many of the labels pasted in the entomolo- 

 gist's specimen-boxes. The cacophony would 

 be excusable if the barbarous expression signi- 

 fied nothing else than the creature intended; 

 but, generally speaking, this name possesses, 

 hidden among its Greek or other roots, a cer- 

 tain meaning in which the novice hopes to 

 find a little information. 



He will be woefully disappointed. The 

 scientific term refers to subtleties difficult to 

 grasp and of very slight importance. Too 

 often it leads him astray, suggesting views 

 which have naught in common with the truth 

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