376 Bihliographical Notices. 



south; whilst //. ferrugineus is a species pecuhar to the east of 

 Europe, which is still found, though very rarely, in Denmark and at 

 the Rhine, hut not in England. In " Moens klint," and the neigh- 

 hourhood of Silkeborg in Jutland, several species are found which 

 elsewhere are confined to mountains, although the said localities are 

 only 400-600 feet above the surftice of the sea : amongst the Har- 

 2^aUni, this is the case with Ophonus azureus and Harpalns serie- 

 imnctatus. 



The species having all been described before, new descriptions are 

 given only of a few. The characters, however, by which Prof. 

 Schjodte proposes to arrange them into groups are indicated (in 

 Latin) ; of the genera new and excellent descriptions are given, and 

 a synoptical table at p. 153. The Damsh Harpalini belong to Aniso- 

 dactylus, Diachromus, Ophonus, Ilarpaliis, Bradycellus, AcupalpuSt 

 Stenolojj/ius, and Balius, a new genus founded on Stenoloj}hus con- 

 spectus and a very similar species from Bengal, distinguished by the 

 remarkable shape of the liguia*. Prof. Schjodte further proposes 

 the establishment of a new group within the limits of the Harpalinij 

 which he proposes to call Stenolophini, and characterizes by the 

 structure of the maxilloe, of which the stipites are prolonged into a 

 remarkable tooth reaching beyond the first joint of the maxillary 

 palpi. In this group Prof. Schjodte comprises a series of small 

 Harpalini "spread over the whole earth, and not less so in the 

 scientific systems." Besides Balius, Stenolophus, and Acupalpus, he 

 mentions I)aj)tus, Batoscelis, and Agonoderus. Among i\\Q?>e,Daptus 

 and Batoscelis are adapted for a manner of living similar to that of 

 the Scaritini; and many entomologists would probably place them 

 near this group on account of their thick heads, broad anterior tibice, 

 linear tarsi, &c. Prof. Schjodte, however, urges that these so-called 

 " biological" characters do not indicate a real affinity between all the 

 Carabi which exhibit them, but only an analogous mode of life. 

 The structure of every animal is no doubt closely adapted to its 

 habits ; and in so far every peculiarity of structure, and the systematic 

 characters derived from it, might, in some sense of the word, be called 

 biological. But it is only to a small extent that we can indicate the 

 connexion between habits of life and structure ; and, as our knowledge 

 stands at present, every animal and every group of animals appear 

 to us as exhibiting the general feature of some type quite arbitrarily 

 devised by the Creator, and modified in some respects to serve cer- 

 tain purposes. The true conception of these types, of higher and 

 lower order, is the first condition of a natural system ; but in this 

 respect great faults have been committed. One great cause of mis- 

 takes is that analogous modifications of the correspondingorgans in ani- 

 mals really belonging to different though aUied types, but living under 

 analogous external circumstances, have often been erroneously con- 

 sidered as the peculiar characteristics of a type — or, in other words, 

 analogies have been mistaken for affinities. Thus, in the case before 



* What is called ligula in Carahi, Dytisci, and Gyrini, is, strictly speak- 

 ing, only the fulcrum ligulaj, the true ligula being represented by the 

 " paraglosstc." 



