THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



123 



were given only in cases where new species are added, or where any 

 change is made in the name adopted in the first edition of my cata- 

 logue." 



Compilers of entomological catalogues seem to enjoy somewhat 

 lively times on completion of their labours, and the case of the author 

 of the first British catalogue was no exception to the general rule, as 

 he came in for a full share of adverse criticism, in the matter of no- 

 menclature, from Mr. E. W. Janson, then Secretary of the " Entomo- 

 logical Society of London," who says (Annual, 1859, p. 118): " The 

 facilities exclusively possessed by Mr. Waterhouse of leisurely and 

 thoroughly investigating the collection of the late Mr. Stephens, pur- 

 chased by the nation, and now deposited in the British Museum, 

 warranted the expectation that on this score at least his catalogue 

 would have afforded a complete epitome ; and that taking Mr. 

 Wollaston's ' Revision of the British Atomarise '* as his model, he 

 would have furnished such an analysis of the insects placed by the 

 late Mr. Stephens in his cabinet to represent his published descrip- 

 tions, as should guide us in forming a correct estimate of the value 

 of those descriptions, and of arriving at a fair and impartial decision 

 as to the extent to which the names employed by Mr. Stephens 

 will rightfully supersede those in use on the continent. Until 

 such an analysis is laid before the entomological public, any attempt 

 to establish a uniform nomenclature must prove utterly abortive. It 

 is not to be supposed that the entomologists of the continent will con- 

 sent to the banishment of names ' familiar to them as household 

 words,' and embalmed in the laborious and conscientious works of 

 Gyllenhal, Erichson, Aube, Schioedte, Schaum, Mannerheim, Chevro- 

 lat, Heer, Kraatz, Fairmaire, and a host of others too numerous to - 

 mention, unless full and unquestionable evidence is adduced of our 

 right to substitute for them names equally cherished by us — precious 

 legacies bequeathed to us in the writings of Kirby, Spence, Marsham, 

 Leach, Stephens, Curtis, Westwood, Denny, Haliday, Wollaston, 

 Walton, and luminaries of minor magnitude." 



As might naturally be expected, Mr. Waterhouse took up the 

 cudgels, and some spirited correspondence on the subject ensued be- 

 tween these two gentlemen in the pages of the Intelligencer (the only 

 magazine then exclusively devoted to entomology). The following 

 extract is taken from Mr. Waterhouse's letter (Jan. 22, 1859), and 

 may, perhaps, throw some light on his position in respect to the corn- 



Trans. Entom. Soc. Lond. New series, IV. 64 (1857.) 



