ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



259 



describe and illustrate 500,000 insects will, of 

 course, require just 1,000 times the space re- 

 quired for 600, or 1 ,000 octavo volumes of G2o 

 pages each. Now, with paper of ordinary thick- 

 ness — weigliiug, say 60 pounds to the ream — 

 suih a volume when bound occupies just Iwo 

 iiulu-s of space on a book-shelf. Consequently, 

 t(i hold 1 .(iiiosuch volumes would require a length 

 (if sliehiiig slijililly exceeding IGO feet; or sup- 

 posing the sliclvcs to be 1 inch thick and allow- 

 ing 11 iiiclies space between each pair of shelves, 

 the whole 1,000 volumes would just fill seven 

 iiook-cascs each G feet high and 4 feet wide. 

 Truly, this would be a snug little entomological 

 work, altogether ahead of the Japanese novel 

 which was commenced forty years ago, and after 

 being continued yearly at the rate of three vol- 

 MiiK's per annum, has at length, in the year 1870, 

 Im'cu brought to a prosperous conclusion by the 

 siimiltaneous death of the hero, the heroine, and 

 the author! 



L'nd. Our own experience is that we cannot 

 prrrperly determine and describe any insect, in 

 the winged state alone, at a more rapid rate than 

 three species per diem. We know very well that 

 many of the published descriptions extant have 

 liceii thrown off by authors — carrente calnnio — 

 in half an hour or an hour; and we may find, in 

 tlic Proceedings of one of our Natural History 

 Societies located not 5,000 miles from the very 

 •• Hub of the Universe." (lcMii]ilions that have 

 been (luite recently iiulili>!ii'.l, .md from which 

 not one person in live liundnd will recognize 

 the insect described. What arc such descrip- 

 tions worth? Nothing at all! They are often 

 written with entire neglect of the preparatory 

 states, variations, or habits of the insect, and 

 instead of laboriously examining several dozen 

 specimens of either sex, and noting down care- 

 fully in the description every considerable varia- 

 tion that occurs in any one specimen of either 

 sex, such authors often describe from isolated 

 specimens without meutioning the fact. In this 

 way our synonomy is multiplied, and the author's 

 work is often lost to the world, as it well de- 

 serves to be, unless he is fortunate enough to 

 leave beliind him ticketed specimens of those 

 insects he has himself described, so that subse- 

 (juent inquirers can recognize the insect intended, 

 and give the world assurance of its identity. 

 Instead of giving us the tliffereuces, whether 

 structural or colorational, that on the most dili- 

 gent search can be found to occur in a certain 

 number of individuals, whether of the male or 

 female sex, that belong to the species, some 

 authors in describing, are in the habit of coolly 

 throwing aside all but one which they pick out 



and are pleased to call the " typical " specimen ; 

 so that such a description merely gives the indi- 

 vidual and not the sjiedes. And yet such bas- 

 tard scribblings are every day foisted upon the 

 scientific world— not by the neophite, in whom 

 such a course might be pardonable, but by some 

 entomologists of experience — and in the estima- 

 tion of nuin\- a youii'^' sluilcnl. lie that can publish 

 the greatol qiianlilx nf >u(h fra-li ii<'r annum, 

 is the greatest en(oniolo,L:ist oltli.' day! Verily, 

 posterity will be of a diflerent oiiiuion as to this 

 matter; foi', unless we are greatly niislakon, 

 such descriptions will be confined to the same 

 dusty immortality in which quietly repose, un- 

 disturbed by the curious fingers of all genuine 

 naturalists, the learned lucubi-ations of IJafin- 

 esque, and of other authors of that stripe. 



But let us return from this digression, wliich 

 was somewhat necessary to prevent our being 

 accused of overstating the case, and to relieve 

 the tedium caused by so much dry calculation. 

 We will assume, to be on the safe side, that it 

 requires not the thii-d part, but only the fourth 

 part of a day, accurately to describe an average 

 insect iu its perfect or winged stage. We will 

 make no extra allowance for the time expended 

 in tracing the species through all its four stages, 

 and making sure of the fact that we are not 

 des, Tilling the egg of the bug A, the larva of the 

 Iiug II. the pupa of the bug C, and the winged 

 form of the bug D, as all belonging to the same 

 species, which may be either A, B, C or D. 

 Surely, therefore, when we consider that to 

 thoroughly investigate the history and figure 

 the four stages of many l)eetles requires from 

 one to six years, and of certain Cicadas from 

 thirteen to seventeen years, we shall not be 

 accused of exaggeration when we assert that it 

 requires at least one entire day's hard work to 

 describe any particular insect iu all its four 

 stages. On the contrary, those who have had 

 most experience, will best understand how very 

 low this estimate must be. Now there are 

 500,000 species to be thus described. Conse- 

 quently, upon the above assumption, it will 

 require 500,000 days to execute the work. Sup- 

 pose we allow 300 days as the working year of 

 a naturalist, which, though fewer than he may 

 sometimes have to work, is surely driving him 

 hard enough in all conscience. Then it follows 

 that, for the manuscript alone of our little Cabi- 

 net Eucyclopoedia of Entomology, there will be 

 required the labor of l,GG6 years. Now let us 

 talk about the illustrations that will be rei|uired. 

 We have considerable personal experience in 

 this matter, and we assert unhesitatingly that 

 few artists can execute good colored drawings 



