INTRODUCTION. XIX 



may be attributed the success of his inquiries. 

 Swammerdam founded his system upon what 

 has been called the metamorphotic basis ; and 

 RAY, in conjunction with his friend WIL- 

 LUGHBY, whom he calls the profoundest of 

 naturalists and the most amiable and vir- 

 tuous of men, erected his superstructure on 

 the same basis. In the Historia Insectorum 

 of Ray, evidently the joint production of him- 

 self and WILLUGHBY, especial attention is 

 paid to the Hymenoptera : it contains vari- 

 ous interesting observations on their manners 

 and characters; and the descriptions, in which 

 he was assisted by the use of very powerful 

 microscopes, are concise and well drawn. 

 DR. MARTIN LISTER, in an appendix to 

 Ray's work, and in various other writings 

 also, contributed materially to elucidate the 

 science of entomology. MADAME MERIAN 

 likewise deserves well, for her industrious 

 pursuit of this subject, particularly for her 

 beautiful illustration of the metamorphoses of 

 insects in Surinam. 



The French natural historian REAUMUR 

 stands prominent among the students of en- 

 tomology, for the unsurpassed enthusiasm and 



