48 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 



by aid of two words alone, every entomologist, though 

 in the most distant region — whether a Swede, a German, 

 or a Frenchman ; whether a native of Europe, of Asia, 

 of America, or of Africa, knows instantly the very species 

 that is meant, and can that moment ascertain whether it 

 be within his reach. If the species be new and unde- 

 scribed, it is only necessary to indicate the genus to 

 which it belongs, the species to which it is most nearly 

 allied, and to describe it in scientific terms, which may 

 be done in few words, and it can at once be recognised 

 by every one acquainted with the science. 



You will think it hardly credible that there should 

 be so much difficulty in describing an insect intelligibly 

 without the aid of system ; but an argumentiim ad homi- 

 n&ri, supported by some other facts, will, I conjecture, ren- 

 der this matter more comprehensible. You have doubt- 

 less, like every one else, in the showery days of sum- 

 mer, felt no little rage at the Jlies, which at such times 

 take the liberty of biting our legs, and contrive to make 

 a comfortable meal through the interstices of their silken 

 or cotton coverings. Did it, I pray, ever enter into your 

 conception, that these blood-thirsty tormentors are a dif- 

 ferent species from those flies which you are wont to see 

 extending the lips of their little proboscis to a piece of sugar 

 or a drop of wine ? I dare say not. But the next time you 

 have sacrificed one of the former to your just vengeance, 

 catch one of the latter and compare them. I question ifj 

 after the narrowest comparison, you will not still venture a 

 wager that they are the very same species. Yet you would 

 most certainly lose your bet. They are not even of the 

 same genus — one belonging to the genus Musca (M. do- 

 mestical L.), and the other to the genus Stomoxys (S. cal- 



