47 



the terms analogy and affinity to have had good, sound, and 

 distinct meanings, as originally employed and explained by great 

 naturalists, they have now been so confused, confounded, and 

 utterly misunderstood by ignorant persons, that either of these 

 terms is entirely out of the question:* in fact, a suitable 

 term by which to designate this peculiar species of relation or 

 approach, I neither know where to find, or how to invent ; and, 

 therefore, I shall purpose simply to call it relation of larva, 

 relation of pupa, or relation of imago, as the case may be. 



In one instance, the relation of imago is, from several com- 

 bining causes, which it will be unavailing to recapitulate, uncer- 

 tain enough — that of Barbicornis and Lasiocampa ; but I would 

 ask the impartial reader, is it half so far-fetched and untenable as 

 those in common use ? Can human sagacity, in sheer wanton- 

 ness, invent combinations more unnatural than , twenty 



or thirty of which we could all point to in our own cabinets? 

 For the value of the other relations (eleven others) I appeal to 

 the judgment of the assiduous collector, the experienced observer, 

 the real nature-loving naturalist, — to him who has spent days in 

 the woods, and not only captured but observed these delightful 

 beings, — to him who never invented or supported a theory, — to 

 him who is pledged to no system, to no party, — I ask him, 

 nothing doubting of his concurrence, whether these relations do 

 not too plainly bear the impression of nature's seal, to allow him 

 to doubt one instant of their reality. 



In the next place a question occurs, how is the relative posi- 

 tion of the sub-classes proved to be correct, seeing it is so totally 

 at variance with what we have from our childhood been perfectly 



* No individual need say with more •heartfelt sincerity — " Preserve me 

 from my friends," than Mr. MacLeay; let the naturalist read the HoreB 

 EntomologiccB, and he will pause in admiration at the vigorous, manly display 

 of intellect, which, frankly and eagerly seeking truth, throws a golden lustre 

 over every page ; and, I confess, my eyes were opened to the suspicion that 

 all was not pure gold, by the awkward and abortive attempts of commentators 

 to prove it so. Puerile schemes of applying the quinary system in detail, and 

 sundry vapourings about affinity and analogy, have so mystified these subjects, 

 that they already totter to their very foundations, and must speedily fall ; 

 while the existence of circles must stand for ever as a discovery of which 

 Britain is proud. 



