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PREFACE, 



The late Mr. Frederick Smith was engaged, at the time of his 

 death, in the determination and arrangement of the large collection 

 of foreign Hymenoptera in the British Mnseum. During the pro- 

 gress of this work he drew up descriptions of those species which 

 he recognized as new, with the view of finally submitting the whole 

 of his manuscript to the Trustees for publication. He was not 

 permitted to complete this task: after a short illness, Frederick 

 Smith died on February 16th, 1879. 



It seemed to the Trustees to be in the interest of the collection 

 in the British Museum, as well as of science generally, that such 

 descriptions as were left by Mr. Smith should be published as soon 

 as possible. Although they were prepared with great care, and 

 were apparently ready for the printer, the author, probably, would 

 have introduced some emendations if he had lived to see his work 

 through the press. Under the circumstances mentioned, the only 

 alterations admitted by the Editor were those of some specific names 

 which were found to be preoccupied for species of the same genus. 

 The original manuscript will be preserved in the archives of the 

 Department. 



Mr. Smith had also written preliminary diagnoses of a number 

 of Central- American species presented to the Trustees by Messrs. 

 Godman and Salvin. These diagnoses, originally destined for the 

 great work on the Fauna of Central America which those gentle- 

 men are preparing for publication, have been introduced into the 



present work with their permission. 



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