360 REV. H. S. GORHAM ON THE CLASSIFICATION [Apr. 5, 



3. The Ahdomen. — This is remarkably uniform in all the genera, 

 yet affords two most trenchant and easily observed distinctions, viz. 

 the presence or absence and variety of two lines, sometimes raised, 

 sometimes impressed upon the intercoxal process of the basal segment ; 

 their presence is a peculiarity of the Asiatic species. And, secondly, 

 the excision of the apical segment, which rarely takes place and 

 usually ill the male sex only. 



4. Appendages.— The elytra : these are sometimes quite smooth 

 at the apices, or they are denticulate, excised, truncate, or divari- 

 cating ; these are partly generic but partly divisional characters. Thus 

 the finely denticulate apex is nearly, or quite, a peculiarity of the 

 American species. The legs : the femora are either smooth in both 

 sexes, or finely granulate or denticulate in the males ; the tibiae very 

 rarely bent or sinuous like those of Endomychidse, often incrassate as 

 in Erotylidae, never toothed as in the former. The tarsi : I have 

 examined the soles with the view of ascertaining if any such differences 

 as Mr. Bates has used in the Carabidse exist ; and I find two types of 

 feet, one with spongiose close-set papillae, the other similar but with 

 ragged rough hairs in addition, and much hairier above and on the 

 sides. The latter is the usual American type, the former the Eastern 

 or Asiatic : modifications occur in both parts of the world ; and 

 I venture to think that in this I have found a clue to the natural 

 arrangement of genera in this subfamily, but yet one that must 

 be taken in combination with the more important of the characters 

 mentioned, as in certain genera an intermediate form occurs. This 

 is, however, the case whatever be the distinctive structure selected 

 for the purpose of classification ; cases will always present them- 

 selves in which any one character fails to give any response, and we 

 must have recourse to others known to be correlated with it to satisfy 

 our inquiries. 



I may here acknowledge the contributions to our knowledge of 

 this group made by Mr. Lewis and the Rev. W. W. Fowler. Of 

 course I have made use of every kind of information I could find 

 already published, for which I feel no apology is needed. 



The following is an attempt to place the general results of my 

 examination in a tabular form. The North-American genera will be 

 more fully characterized in an early part of the ' Biologia Centrali- 

 Americana.' The genera which I wish to suggest for adoption for 

 the eastern species which have been described as Lmigurice are 

 indicated also by a type species as well as in the table ; it must here 

 be observed I do not regard any species I have yet seen from Asia 

 or Africa as belonging to Languria proper, of which L. mozardi is 

 the type. It is not to be supposed that I have studied more than a 

 limited number of the Asiatic species ; my examination of them, so far 

 as it has gone, leads me to expect that many more genera than are 

 here suggested will have to be made, but that their arrangement will 

 be much facilitated by attention being paid to the sectional characters 

 now proposed. 



