388 DR. F. LEUTHNER ON THE ODONTOLABINI, 
them. However, they are most interesting to those observers who do not confine 
themselves to mere names, as they furnish a clue to the mystery of the Origin of 
Species. What do they teach us? How far are they connected, and why should 
they be distinguished from closely allied forms? ‘These and similar inquiries force 
themselves upon the attention, and can only be answered by the examination of as 
large a series of specimens as possible, in order that every variation from a type may be 
noted, and the transitions between one form and another investigated. By this method 
we are often enabled to connect incredibly different forms by an unbroken series of 
intermediate links, while morphologists may succeed in unravelling the secrets of the 
origin of markings, alterations of colour, form, sculpture, &c., though frequently not 
without great labour and difficulty. 
Several zoologists have already begun to classify and arrange their collections accord- 
ing to this method. My highly esteemed friend and instructor in entomology, Brunner 
yon Wattenwyl, has been engaged for many years in the formation of a collection of 
Orthoptera which is unique of its kind. He has collected together as large a series as 
possible of different species, in different stages, and from various localities, in order to 
acquaint himself with their geographical distribution, as well as with the influence of 
climate upon them. This enables a student to perceive at a glance the various disguises 
assumed by a species under changed conditions of climate &c., as well as many points 
which would otherwise elude the observation of even the most careful investigator. 
Naturalists will at once perceive the great scientific importance of a collection formed 
on such a system. 
(1) Variability of the Lucanide in general, with special reference to the Odontolabini. 
There is perhaps no group of insects which vary to so great an extent as the 
Lamellicornia, and more especially the Lucanide. The variations within the limits 
of a single species are often so great that a small male is structurally different from a 
large male. It is therefore not surprising that differently formed males of the same 
species were described as distinct by the older authors. Later and more accurate 
observers discovered this, and Burmeister showed that a completely unbroken series 
often exists between the largest and smallest males, the latter of which are remarkably 
similar to the females. Darwin employed this discovery in a very skilful manner to 
elucidate his theory of Natural Selection. Since then these series have become 
extremely interesting, and any one who wishes to study the most remarkable variations 
which may occur in one and the same species, with the object of discovering the laws 
by which nature has modified individuals, should select the plastic group of the 
Lucanoid Coleoptera for his investigations. But he will soon begin to despair of 
arriving at definite systematic results, in this chaos of uncertain forms, in spite of the 
enormous amount of material which we now possess, but which, notwithstanding, is 
wholly insufficient for such an investigation. I myself worked for several months at 
’ Comp. A. G, Butler, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 5, vol. xi. (1883) p. 427. 
