120 BARON WALKENAER ON THE 



word in naming this genus without in the least intending that 

 this signification should interfere with the meaning it might 

 have in Aristotle, to whom indeed he does not allude. 



In the instance of the higher animals, such as quadrupeds, 

 birds, fishes, and reptiles, naturalists have established, as far 

 as they could, a correct synonymy of those species known to 

 the moderns which have been described in ancient writers, 

 because they have there met with notices of some which have not 

 been so well observed since, and others that are now alto- 

 gether unknown ; so that on this account they continue to be 

 considered as portions of the science ; but the case is very 

 different with insects. In spite of the present imperfection of 

 entomology, which is the most difficult of all branches of 

 natural history, the moderns have made such progress that we 

 may rest assured we have nothing to learn from the ancients 

 on the subject ; with the exception of the honey-bee and 

 the caterpillar of Bombyx mori, or the silkworm, insects 

 which perhaps occupy as important a situation and position 

 in the history of the human race, commerce, and the arts, as 

 any of the largest animals. Naturalists of the present day 

 have paid but little attention to the study of ancient writers 

 on the subject of insects ; however, the names which they 

 have borrowed from them show that they have read them, 

 though, in some cases, perhaps without any other intention 

 than that of establishing a connexion by means of a similarity 

 of nomenclature between the writings of antiquity and their 

 own ; but they appear to have considered this kind of research 

 as too difficult for them ; or else that it was impossible to 

 undertake it with any chance of success. This is why there 

 are so few dissertations on the subject extant ; and in those 

 we do possess it very frequently happens that no attempt has 

 been made to determine the species or genus, but only to 

 discover the class to which the ancient name was intended to 

 apply. 



If the science of natural history has little to hope from 

 these investigations, we may perhaps, however, obtain by their 

 means a better and more exact interpretation of passages of 

 ancient authors, and the difficulty attending such pursuits 

 should not deter us from the attempt. In entering on this 

 subject, as indeed when about to explore any of the uncul- 

 tivated portions of the vast field of science, we may say, " If 



