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last year ; an ample proof of the fact, that the energetic keeper of the 

 Zoological collections loses no opportunity of enriching the Entomo- 

 logical portion, as far as the funds granted to the department will allow. 

 I have great pleasure in mentioning that Members of this Society, as 

 well as other entomologists, have made liberal presents to the British 

 Collection during the past year. 704 specimens have been presented by 

 the following gentlemen : Messrs. Bond, Dale, Francis, Kirby, Lewis, 

 M'Lachlan, Parfitt, Piffard, Beading, Bye, E. Smith, Stokes, Wor- 

 mald, and the Bev. Hugl^ Stowell. 



Meetings of the Society. 



I am happy to report that the ordinary meetings of the Society . 

 have been exceedingly well attended during the past season. It were 

 invidious, perhaps, to particularize any amongst a series of papers 

 read before the Society, all of great excellence ; but I wish briefly to 

 mention one, and also publicly to express my regret to find a system 

 with regard to priority of nomenclature — a system most unjust 

 between brother entomologists — gaining ground amongst continental 

 authors. Dr. Schaum considers it right to restore an older name 

 should the description given at the time of its publication be such as 

 would enable a competent entomologist to recognise it. The recog- 

 nition of a species from a description, however, depends greatly upon 

 the number of closely allied species by which it may be surrounded ; 

 under some circumstances a few words will prove amply sujB&cient, 

 whilst under others it might require half an octavo page. But the 

 system I condemn, not only as unjust, but totally indefensible, is the 

 practice of using the names given by British entomologists, but quo- 

 ting them from a more recent work as those of some continental 

 Naturalist, and leaving unnoticed the name of the original author. 

 A single example wiU explain my meaning : the Chrysis neglecta of 

 Shuckard was well described by him in a monograph of the family, 

 published in the ' Entomological Magazine ' in 1837 ; it was also 

 described by Dahlbom in the second volume of the ' Hymenoptera 

 Europaea,' published in 1854, under the name of C. integrella. In 

 M. Chevrier's recently published Monograph of the Chrysididge the 

 latter name is adopted for the species ; and several similar instances 

 occur in the same publication. Nothing can be more unjust, or 

 tend more to the confusion of nomenclature. There are, however, 

 several continental entomologists, honourable exceptions, whose con- 

 duct is not open to this remark, but they are only few among the 

 many. 



