18 FRANCIS HEMMING 



by Herrich-Schaeffer on the generic classification of the butterflies published in 

 instalments over the years 1864-1871 in volumes 18-19 and 21-25 0I the serial 

 CorrespondenzBlatt der zoologisch-mineralogischer Verein in Regensburg. This work 

 is almost invariably cited by reference to the re-paged off-print issued after the 

 completion of the paper, where it appears as though it was a separate work published 

 in three volumes under the title " Prodromus Systematis Lepidopterorum ", this 

 being no more than the title of the paper as published in the CorrespondenzBlatt. A 

 name published in a paper commonly misquoted in the foregoing way is cited in the 

 present work as having been published in the serial in which it did in fact appear, 

 followed by the number of the volume of the serial and the number of the page in that 

 volume, the reference so given being followed in brackets — parentheses — by the 

 incorrect reference under which the name has commonly been cited. 



(b) Adoption of the form of entry employed by the International Commission on 

 Zoological Nomenclature in the " Official List of Generic Names in Zoology " . 

 The decision to employ in the present work an alphabetical, instead of a syste- 

 matic, arrangement made it possible to introduce a simpler and shorter form for the 

 entry of names than had previously been practicable. The form of entry adopted 

 by the Commission for the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology contains all the 

 information required for the purposes of the present work and moreover has the 

 advantage that it is now well-known and generally understood. It has accordingly 

 been adopted in the present work, with the exception that the statement of the 

 type-species is given in a separate sentence, not in parentheses. 



VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND THANKS 



The present work was compiled at home in my spare time until 1953 in which year 

 I retired from my former occupation and was able to devote the whole of my time to 

 this task. This method of compiling this book was rendered possible only by the 

 fact that I was able to rely for a great many of the references required upon my large 

 private library of entomological works. Naturally, however, even when the fullest 

 advantage had been taken of this source of information, there remained hundreds of 

 names published in works which it was necessary to consult elsewhere and in addition 

 a large number of works which needed to be consulted in case they contained type- 

 selections of genera that had so far been overlooked. For this purpose full use was 

 made of institutional libraries, such as those of the Zoological Society of London, the 

 Linnaean Society of London and the Royal Entomological Society of London. In 

 many cases books were borrowed from these libraries, while in many others, an 

 examination of the books in question was actually carried out in the libraries of the 

 institutions concerned. By these means the original references for almost all the 

 generic names were examined and the titles of the works in which they had been 

 published verified and only a relatively small number of works which it was thought 

 might contain overlooked type-selections still required individual examination. 

 For the facilities provided for examining the books which still needed to be consulted 

 I am greatly indebted to the authorities of the British Museum (Natural History) . 



