190 Harris on the genus Cychrus, 
but I do think it of some importance to point out re- 
markable errors, to rectify mistakes, and to establish the 
nomenclature, synonymy, and diagnosis of our insects 
upon the basis of a careful scrutiny and comparison, 
and a consultation of the original authorities of the first 
descriptions. And indeed I should feel myself wanting 
in my duty to you and to science, were I any longer to 
hesitate to bring forward and record, in a permanent 
form, the result of my observations. 
With these motives in view, I have already presented 
to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia a 
paper containing remarks upon some of the genera 
of our beetles, together with. descriptions of some of the 
insects brought by Mr. Townsend from Oregon, belong- 
ing to the collection of the Academy. And I now 
propose to follow up the general subject, by offering to — 
you, for our journal, a few descriptions of insects inhab- 
iting our country, together with such remarks as may 
be necessary upon the genera to which they belong. 
'The present paper will be confined to the native beetles 
belonging to the genus Cvcnnus of Fabricius. 
This has been divided by Count Déjean into three 
genera, whether judiciously or not will: appear in the 
sequel. These three genera, viz.. _Cycurvs, proper, 
Scarninotus; and SemxmopERus have been adopted 
in the 2d edition of the * Régne Animal" of the 
late eminent naturalists Cuvier and Latreille; and in- 
deed the genus ScaeniNorUs seems first to have been 
indicated by the latter. The distinguishing character 
of the genus Cychrus, as laid down by these authors, is, 
that the tarsi are alike in both sexes. In my paper on 
the insects of Oregon, I have shown that this. character 
