Preface 



tific terms that occur in the text. In so doing 

 I know that I have but followed the wishes 

 of the author, who never wearies of protest- 

 ing against 'the barbarous terminology' fa- 

 voured by his brother-naturalists. The mat- 

 ter became even more urgent in English than 

 in any of the Latin languages; and I readily 

 agreed when it was pointed out to me that, in 

 a work essentially intended for general read- 

 ing, there was no purpose in speaking of a 

 Coleopteron when the word 'beetle' was to 

 hand. In cases where an insect had inevitably 

 to be mentioned by its Greek or Latin name, 

 a note is given explaining, in the fewest words, 

 the nature of the insect in question. 



I have to thank my friend, M. Maurice 

 Maeterlinck, for the stately preface which he 

 has contributed to this volume, and Mr. Mar- 

 maduke Langdale and Miss Frances Rodwell 

 for the generous assistance which they have 

 given me in the details of my work. And I 

 am also greatly indebted to Mr. W. S. Graff 

 Baker for his invaluable help with the mathe- 

 matical difficulties that confronted me in the 

 translation of the Appendix. 



ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS. 



CHELSEA, 10 October, 1912. 



