2548 Insects. 



have had recent examples enough to confirm this. " Three flats may indicate a ma- 

 jor key." I am no musician ; but to such of your readers as have no objection to a 

 round with me, I beg to state that mine is a simple tune in the entomological key of 

 C sharp. — John Sircom, Jun.; Brislington, July 28, 1849. 



On setting Micro-Lepidoptera flat. — Through the courtesy of my friend, Mr. Sir- 

 corn, in sending me a copy of the foregoing note, I am enabled, although at present 

 not of " the great majority," now to accept the invitation to have a " round " with 

 him, which I wish to do in all amity. The object of my remarks (Zool. 2500) was to 

 show that a small moth set flat was more easily examined than one set round, and I 

 incidentally observed that the round method was not natural. Now, of course, these 

 remarks are only applicable to a moth with the wings expanded, representing it in 

 the position of flight ; and I still contend that in this attitude the wings are more flat 

 than round, — else how is it that in placing a moth on a rounded cork the wings have 

 to be made to assume its curved form ? If they were naturally rounded this would 

 not be necessary. Moreover, we all know that if a moth set round be damped, the 

 curve vanishes, and the wings return to their natural flatness. But with all deference 

 to the intelligence of Mr. Sircom, he, in his anxiety to have a " round " and support 

 his crotchet, has begun to play before he was in tune, and so has marred the melody 

 of the fantasia he intended to play upon my air ; in other words, he has not thoroughly 

 understood me. His observations apply to moths in a position of rest ; and though 

 I might dispute his assertion that none are flat, yet, as it does not enter into the ar- 

 gument, I forbear. The whole matter is this, — that the rounded form usually given 

 to the wings of Micro-Lepidoptera in setting is not natural, and is productive of much 

 difficulty in determining minute characters ; and that the flat method of setting is 

 not unnatural, and affords every facility for examining the cilia and the smallest 

 markings, especially those of the apex. Let, then, those persons who are conservative 

 in such matters stand upon the ancient ways, good or bad, and transpose all the flats 

 which their more ardent friends may send them : for my part, I confess that a better 

 way is not less welcome to me because it is a novelty or of un-English origin.—/. W. 

 Douglas ; 2, Eton Grove, Lee, August, 1849. 



Which is the best Pin for small Micro-Lepidoptera P — This is a question I am 

 continually being asked ; and as there are probably many collectors with whom I am 

 not in correspondence, to whom the answer would be acceptable, I scruple not to pub- 

 lish my reply. Although the best pin for Tortrices and large Tineae is undeniably 

 D. F. Taylor and Co.'s (late Edelsten and Williams), No. 18 ; yet for all small Tineae 

 this is much too large, and the best pin for small Micro-Lepidoptera is the No. 1 of 

 Knight and Son, Foster Lane, Cheapside ; but parties purchasing these pins must 

 calculate on having to throw more than half of them away, in consequence of the 

 points being turned : this I fear is irremediable, in consequence of their extreme 

 fineness, as the slightest contact with any hard substance — the mere shaking of a box 

 in travelling spoils very many : yet it is the smallest pin I know, and I therefore re- 

 commend it, as with it an ordinary Lithocolletis can be pinned without destroying 

 the thorax, which many entomologists persist in doing with Taylor's No. 18. — H. T. 

 Stainton ; Mountsfield, Lewisham, July 25, 1849. 



Laws of Nomenclature. — 1. The name first given to an insect by printed publica- 

 tion is always that which is to be retained. 2. No two species in the same genus 

 should bear the same specific name : (in closely allied genera the same specific name 

 should not in future be repeated). 3. The system of uniform termination of specific 



