58 INTRODUCTION. 



authors. The discoveries of later days have likewise pre- 

 sented numerous groups, equal to those of the genera of 

 which he was ignorant. Now, this torrent, both of novelties 

 and of science, has rendered the old Linnaean genera of such 

 amazing extent, and so unmeldy, that entomologists, in their 

 own defence, have been compelled to institute subdivisions 

 of various ranks. For instance, if a person wish to record 

 some fact concerning one of the Linnaean Carabi, he is en- 

 abled, instead of wading through the descriptions of two 

 thousand five hundred species, to reduce the objects of his 

 inquiry to one of the great sub-families of the Linnaean 

 genus ; and thus, by the assistance of three or four other 

 still more inferior sections, to bring his inquiry into the 

 lowest possible compass. In doing this, however, a sufficient 

 regard has been paid to the authority of Linnaeus by con- 

 verting his genera into families, terminating uniformly, 

 according to the admirable plan of Mr. Kirby, in id(B. Sub- 

 families have been introduced, which are agam subdivided 

 into genera and sub-genera, which present varieties in struc- 

 ture of their different organs, while they agree in possessing 

 the characters of the great family to which they belong. 

 Novv^ the advantages of this plan of names are evidently 

 these: — 1st, The peculiar construction of an animal is in- 

 stantly called to mind by the naming of its modern generic 

 or sub-generic names, whereas if the old Linnaean (but now 

 family) title were employed, a very indefinite idea would 

 alone be obtained : for instance, if we were merely told that 

 a friend had observed the habits of one of the two thousand 

 five hundred Carabidce, we should be almost as com- 

 pletely in the dark, as to its precise structure, as though 

 we had been told that it was a beetle. 2nd, The beautiful 

 perplexity arising from the employment of stars, and dag- 

 gers, and other marks, for sections of the Linnaean genera, 

 is entirely removed. Those who have studied, for ex- 



