100 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
In 1866 the late Mr. Shuckard, author of ‘Essay on the 
Indigenous Fossorial Hymenoptera,—a volume of great 
research,—issued a philosophical, but somewhat incomplete, 
work, intituled ‘British Bees: an Introduction to the 
Study of the Natural History and Economy of the Bees 
Indigenous to the British Isles. I say “‘ incomplete,” inas- 
much as the species are not systematically described, and the 
“natural history” of the bees we find under the “ general 
observations” which are appended to the “ general character” 
at the head of each genus. This plan has the advantage of 
admitting a discursiveness of style, which might be out of 
place in a more scientific and systematic work; but at the 
same time it allows a vagueness altogether at variance with 
the precision of true science. As an instance of this vague- 
ness, the author says that “All the facts recorded, without 
reference to authorities, are the result either of personal 
observation or of diligent study, which, from the length of 
time that has intervened, have become so blended in my 
mind that I can no longer separate their sources.” So that the 
author both assumes the liberty of appropriating the researches 
of others without acknowledgment, and of repudiating pass- 
ages which may hereafter be pointed out as erroneous, on 
the plea that they are, in all probability, copied from others. 
This seems hardly fair to those who have laboured long and 
assiduously in the same field. Thus the principle of suwm 
cuique is altogether ignored. Hence we scarcely know for 
what portion of the following remarks we are to give Mr. 
Shuckard the credit of originality :— 
“They are not uncommon insects ; and I have found them 
abundant in sandy spots sporting in the sunshine on the bare 
ground, where they run about with great activity; the 
females chiefly, the males the while disporting themselves 
on any flowers that may be adjacent; and they are especially 
fond of ragwort. Their prevalent colours are black and red, 
the latter occurring only on the abdomen in different degrees 
of intensity and extension, and sometimes limited to a band 
across it. Much difficulty attaches to the determination of 
the species, from the characters which separate them being 
exceedingly obscure, for it is not safe to depend on the 
differences in the arrangement of colour upon them, as it 
varies infinitely; nor can their relative sizes be depended 
