PREFACE. Vll 



observing, conveyed but little information to the 

 mind ; and that it was the origin of the name it- 

 self, and its reference to other names, and to other 

 groups of names, and the reason for their being so 

 grouped, which was the kind of knowledge most 

 likely to enable me to organize the information I 

 was acquiring, and to take that general view of the 

 subject which alone gives to a student the power to 

 appreciate duly each separate part. 



With this view I have endeavoured to show 

 how the first glimpses of our knowledge of insects 

 gradually grew up into an important branch of 

 science, by successive improvements in the various 

 methods of classification adopted at different 

 periods. 



To some this may appear a " dry" portion of 

 the subject ; but to me the history of Entomology, 

 from its crude beginnings to the establishment of 

 the present systematic arrangement, by means of 

 which the great tribe of insects has been grouped 

 into well-established " orders," with their subdi- 

 visions of " families," " genera," and " species," 

 has always appeared nearly as interesting as the 

 immediate study of the structure, the habits, and 

 even the metamorphoses of the insects themselves. 



Therefore, while describing the best manner of 



