62 NATURAL HISTORY OF AQUATIC INSECTS CH. 



naturalists of past generations. Chief among them 

 is the celebrated Lj'onnct, who gives an interesting 

 account of the larva and pupa. In this, as in other 

 cases where classical memoirs are cited, I think that 

 a short account of the author may be acceptable to 

 some readers. 



The work on which Lyonnet's fame mainly rests 

 is his memoir on the larva of the Goat Moth {Traitc 

 Anatoniiqiie de la CJienille qui rouge le bois de Sank 

 1760). No anatomical study shows greater fidelity 

 and skill. The dissections of the head of the larva 

 are truly an extraordinary feat, and will never be 

 surpassed. Modern treatises on Comparative Ana- 

 tomy continue to reproduce some of these figures, 

 such as the general view of the viscera, the structure 

 of the leg, and the digestive tract. Nearly the whole 

 interest of the volume lies in the plates, for the text 

 is little more than a voluminous explanation of the 

 figures. 



It is not without surprise that we find that Lyonnet 

 was an amateur, who had received no regular training 

 either in anatomy or engraving, and that he had many 

 pursuits besides the delineation of natural objects. 

 He was brought up for the Protestant ministry, 

 turned to the bar, and finally became cipher-secretary 

 and confidential translator to the United Provinces of 

 Holland. He is said to have been skilled in eight 

 languages. His first published work in Natural 

 History consisted of remarks and drawings contri- 

 buted to Lesser's Insect Theology (1742). About 

 the same time, Trembley was prosecuting at the 

 Hague his studies on the freshwater Pol)p, and 



