INTRODUCTION. 81 



jTreitschke, in their valuable and extensive work 

 on the Lepidoptera of Europe*. 



But there can be little doubt that those arrange- 

 ments are the most accurate and philosophical which 

 are founded on characters derived from all the dif- 

 ferent states in which these insects exist. This 

 conviction seems now to be generally entertained, 

 and most writers of very recent date have seen the 

 propriety of acting upon it. In the works of Cur- 

 tis,, Stephens, Horsfleld, &c. it has been adhered to 

 to a greater or less extent, and in a general work 

 on Lepidoptera lately published by Dr. Boisduval 

 of Paris, nearly equal importance is assigned to the 

 peculiarities of the caterpillar, chrysalis, and butter- 

 fly. As this method presents some new features, 

 and is the last that has been laid before the public, 

 we shall give an. account of it along with the ac- 

 companying remarks in the author's own words : — 

 " It is not till after a most attentive study of the 

 butterflies of Europe in their different states, and 

 after having collected a certain number of materials 

 on the metamorphoses of exotic species, that we 

 have attempted to group the lepidoptera in a man- 

 ner different from that hitherto followed, not ne- 

 glecting, at the same time, the study of those authors 

 who have occupied themselves with this order, that 

 we . might be. enabled to combine the results of 

 their labours with our own. We do not flatter our- 



* This work extends to fourteen volumes (the last pub- 

 lished in 1833), and three supplementary ones are in course 

 of preparation. 



