1913 ] 
Girault: Chalciroid Family Trichogrammatidae 
151 
descriptions of species, neglecting as they did morphological de- 
tails, had left us completely at sea in regard to the position of quite a 
few of them, and these we should either have had to drop as being 
unrecognizable or else adopt the useless alternative of listing them 
under arbitrary genera as so many mere names. Hence in this 
family we found ourselves in the anomalous position of a science 
without system, a mere lot of unknown things which fooled us by 
being called names. It has been my pleasure with the aid of many 
other investigators, acknowledged elsewhere, to trace the confused 
lines back to basic ground, and it is my purpose in the preceding, 
the present and following papers, to present as clarified a ground- 
work for future advance of our knowledge of this group as is possible, 
and to aid somewhat in this progress at the same time. The words 
of Foerster quoted in the opening sentence have proved to be 
true and the sentence grasps the entire history of the group. 
EXPLANATION OF THE WORK AND ITS SCOPE 
Heretofore many systematists have contented themselves 
largely in expressing opinions. Thus a revision of a group is 
usually given in outline without explaining or accounting for the 
various changes made with the expectation that they will be ac- 
cepted forthwith. But it is obvious to those who think, that this 
method is not only unsatisfactory but at the same time seriously 
negligent and really unfair. Quite often we find that explanations 
are not given for the reason that none are available, a little study 
soon convincing us that the position taken in regard to certain 
groups was because of personal opinion or even deliberate choice. 
This not only injects into nomenclature a dangerous element, 
that of varying personalities, but as well adds fogs and obscurities, 
and we find ourselves traveling a circle or leading to an infinity 
of nothings. In the preceding and following pages, therefore, I 
have avoided making any changes in the stati of genera and species 
without giving the best available explanations, but at the same time 
have realized that in certain cases judgment alone could act, and 
when such is the case the fact is stated. I have also been extremely 
liberal when reviewing the literature by giving most of it in one 
place or another, for this is not only fair but at the same time 
largely a necessity in some cases, and in this case largely because 
