PREFACE. 



At the conclusion oi the fifth volume, we beg to express our thanks 

 to our supporters, to whom is due the steadily increasing useful- 

 ness of the Magazine ; hoping also that the termination of a second 

 lustrum will find us enjoying then, as now, the same amicable relations 

 with them, and the same unity of purpose amongst ourselves ; with 

 the satisfaction of knowing that, in having constantly held in view 

 the advancement of Entomology, we have maintained an independence 

 of party feeling, the entertainment of which, even in the slightest 

 degree, is fatal to scientific progress, and a thing to be eschewed by 

 all true naturalists. 



"We regret exceedingly that for many numbers of this volume we 

 were unable, througb extreme pressure, to give prompt attention to 

 many important communications, and this notwithstanding the issue 

 of several enlarged numbers : our correspondents will please bear in 

 mind that our constant aim is to clear off accumulations of materials 

 as soon as possible. 



In answer to enquiries as to the financial condition of the under- 

 taking, we simply say that experience seems to prove that each 

 volume recoups its expenses (and nearly exhausts our present limited 

 impression) in about four years, a result we had scarcely Hoped for 

 at our commencement, and which gives an additional guarantee for 

 a long existence. 



We have felt, with our supporters, some slight inconvenience 

 from the fact of our year commencing in June instead of January, 

 and would gladly obviate this, but the large number of subscribers 

 in advance renders it now almost impossible to make a new arrange- 

 ment, and we must therefore ask our friends to bear with us in this 

 respect. 



1, Paternoster Row : ZOth April, 1869. 



