134 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. 



describing the more minute portions of insect 

 structure. The appearance of that instrument, in 

 fact, led almost immediately to the production of 

 such works as those of our own Dr. Hook, and several 

 similar publications by continental authors. 



It will be observed that the system adopted by 

 Linnaeus, of classifying insects according to the 

 structure of their wings, was in some sort a return 

 to the methods of the earlier naturalists, to the ex- 

 clusion of that of his more immediate predecessors, 

 which was founded on the different kinds of meta- 

 morphosis ; a system which was, in fact, still pur- 

 sued by some long after his time. 



Another recent naturalist, Eabricius, rejecting, 

 like Linnaeus, the kinds of metamorphosis as a basis 

 of classification, and deriving his distinction from 

 the structure of the perfect insect, has yet not taken 

 the wings as the foundation of his method, but 

 having discovered that another peculiarity existed, 

 as distinct as that of scaled wings, which served to 

 keep the same class of insects equally separate from 

 others, took that feature as his distinctive character. 

 That feature is their peculiar proboscis or trunk ; and 

 using the Greek name of that member, he proposed 

 to substitute for the LinnaGan term Lepidoptera, that 

 of Glossata ; thus proposing to call Butterflies the 



