Notices of New Books, 7220 



those abnormal Psyches or Sacktvagers which are bandied about from 

 one division to another because they will amalgamate with none. 



In " Sphinx Vespiformis" I hinted that the Psyches might be Phryga- 

 nidous (see the diagram opposite page 21) ; and subsequently in 

 the preface to the fifteenth volume of the ' Zoologist,' I raised the 

 grave question, whether the PhryganidaB did not constitute a tribe of 

 Lepidoptera. Now supposing this latter hypothesis to be correct, and 

 it is certainly nothing more than hypothesis at present, we shall 

 assuredly find the Sacktrager larva represented among the Borabyces, 

 just the same as we have the cuspidate type of larva, the limaciforra 

 type of larva, &c. According to my view, already partially explained, 

 the existence of such groups as the true Nymphalidae, the Lyca3nidaB, 

 the Phryganidae (if Lepidoplerous), &c., all so strongly marked by the 

 character of their larvse, almost necessitates the reappearance of such 

 larvae in the central and most diversified division of the whole class. I have 

 elsewhere stated my conviction that in such a great division as that of 

 the endosteate animals the existence of such marked groups as fishes, 

 reptiles and birds absolutely necessitates the existence of fish-formed 

 sucklers, reptile-formed sucklers and bird-formed sucklers, otherwise 

 the group associated by the character of suckling the young must be 

 regarded as artificial and unnatural ; but we all know how well this 

 marked division bears this test : in the whale and the dolphin the fish 

 is portrayed ; in the pangolin and armadillo the lizard and the tortoise 

 are portrayed ; and in the bat the bird is portrayed. And this theory 

 of representation is illustrated throughout every part of the animal 

 kingdom, and must be regarded as an essential element in all attempts 

 at natural classification. Thus the existence of Sacktrager larvae 

 among the Lepidoptera, and their occasional appearance in forms least 

 expected, as Perophorus, &c., furnishes a strong reason for assuming 

 the existence of some extensive primary division of Lepidoptera, of 

 which the Sacktrager larva shall be the distinctive character. A curious 

 and conflicting fact has lately been discovered in the economy of 

 certain Psyches, that their larvae are carnivorous ; thus while the factis 

 asserted by Pictet that the larvae of Phryganidae feed greedily on willow 

 leaves, and thus exhibit a decided approach to the normal character 

 of Lepidoplerous larvse, the larvae of Psyches, according to the recent 

 observations of Mr. Ealy, actually exhibit a discrepancy just where 

 one would have wished an identity of economy. All these things must 

 be considered in a much more comprehensive spirit than heretofore, or 

 we cannot expect to arrive at truth. 



The reflecting entomologist will pause before he accepts any scheme 



