ICHNEUMOKID.E. 123 



durino- the life of the latter, which have, however, in general, sufficient 

 vitality left to enable them to change to pupae ; though sometimes 

 the young Ichneumons may be observed worming themselves out of 

 their livino- prey : they are themselves subject to the attacks of other 



not operate in other families: how far, therefore, the calculations made in 

 regard to my unpublished labours depend upon similar circumstances the candid 

 entomologist will be best able to appreciate, especially as it is assumed that 

 because the descriptions are not printed, they cannot he written ! ! ! And with 

 respect to the mere assertion that the result of an investigation of Gyllenhal's 

 descriptions is constantly satisfactory, I presume that my innate stupidity, or 

 want of tact, prevents me from profiting in that manner, as /have been unable 

 to determine satisfactorily numerous species described by him, as a reference 

 to the 2nd edition of my Nomenclature will render manifest ! These critiques, 

 combined with the simultaneous actions of the writer, aroused my sensibility ! ! 

 I shall conclude this note by adding that every person has clearly an unques- 

 tionable right, to a certain extent, of availing hm\§<i\i oi the published labours 

 of his predecessors. I have therefore, as also stated in my Introduction and 

 elsewhere, openly taken advantage thereof, and have as constantly referred to 

 the authors— either through the medium of my Catalogue or of these pages— 

 where any information may have been thus obtained ; and in drawing up the 

 descriptions either of the genera or of the species, I have (where practicable) 

 invariably taken the best previous description, and have either endeavoured to 

 extract its principal points, when too diffuse, or to augment them, when too 

 scanty, so as to correspond with the insects in my cabinets ; a proceeding 

 equally adopted by those persons who affect pure originality, as may be seen 

 by a comparison of their labours with those of their predecessors. These 

 remarks are elicited in consequence of a recent reiteration of the charge against 

 me for not acknowledging particular sources whence I may have obtained 

 information,t as a retort for previous observations of mine, but the point is 

 widely different, as my remarks apply solely to such writers as obtain by 

 artifice the unpublished notes of others, and subsequently incorporate them with, 

 and claim them as, their own. I complain not of the profuse employment of the 

 localities discovered by me, and published in these pages, or of the extraction of 

 any other information therefrom, whether taken from a purchased copy, or 

 from one presented to a public library ! ! 



t To prevent the reader from being misled by an erroneous statement, it is 

 necessary that I should notice a remark by Mr. Curtis, under his genus (559) 

 Nascia, who states "that Hubner divides the species (included under 

 Margaritia) into 16 genera, to which Mr. Stephens has added another;" and 

 .upon these false data proceeds to add a lengthened tirade about the puerility 

 of forming genera upon trilling characters. Nov/, upon referrhig to Hubner, it 



