THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
47 
with tinsel ornamentation. Indeed I 
think our bearing is modesty itself, even 
when compared with such plain plebeian 
creatures as Omix and Gracillaria , with 
whom, as they are not disagreeable com- 
panions, we often manage to associate, 
though you well know what stuck-up 
beings they are. 
Nepticula throws off his spleen at the 
Micro-Lepidopterists, a name, he says, 
they give themselves in their “jargon.” 
Why this is only the common trick of 
those who ridicule what they cannot 
understand ; and then he says he does 
not intend to abuse them — certainly not 
you in particular. This only proves he 
does not know the meaning of the words 
he uses, and thus be lets you see wbat a 
flat he is; this, however, you knew long 
ago, for you had measured the depth of 
his mine, about which be is so facetious, 
and were aware that the tenant, like it, 
must be very shallow. 
The truth is that the whole race is 
annoyed that you have said so much 
about them, so they put the best face 
they can upon it, and, having been so 
long unnoticed, they now would have it 
thought that, from the attention bestowed 
upon them, they are of great importance. 
It would have been far better for his spe- 
cies, if, instead of parading their accom- 
plishments before your eyes — or nose, as 
he has it, just as if he thought they 
gave the perfume to the rose — they 
had kept their doings sub rosa, and saved 
the rest of the Scale-wings all the 
trouble his communication has caused 
them. 
I am not deputed to speak on behalf 
of all the other Micros ; indeed the cir- 
cumscribed nature of my life prevents me 
from knowing what they think on this 
matter, but I am sure they will all agree 
with me in confessing that they are under 
great obligations to you for drawing the 
attention of mankind to them. You have 
said all that it is necessary to be known 
about us, for as for our inner life, of the 
ignorance of which you are taunted, I 
doubt if — from the dissimilarity of our 
organization — you could understand it ; 
I am sure of one thing, neither we nor he 
could enlighten you, for we do not under- 
stand it ourselves. As regards our work, 
we challenge a comparison with that of 
any Nepticula. We know that we not 
only make our dwelling serve for our 
life-time, but that it lasts and preserves 
us till our final change comes, unless 
indeed some tom-tit or other wild beast 
snatches our body out of its tomb, but 
for such accidents we are in no way 
responsible. These boasting Nepticulie, 
on the other hand, with the exception of 
the solitary species of the Vaccinium, are 
glad to leave their house, and hide them- 
selves in holes and corners under cover 
of a cocoon ; it is no wonder, then, that 
they are annoyed at you for exposing 
their vagrant actions, in contrast with 
such histories as those of my respectable 
family and others. In this communi- 
cation I have preserved the usual serenity 
of my disposition, and though I live in 
the oak I have not used any of the 
gall. 
Yours ever at hand, 
Lithocolletis Quercifoliella. 
On Map 1st, price 25s., 
THE BRITISH TORTRICES. 
BY S. J. WILKINSON. 
This work will form one 8vo volume, 
uniform with the series of the ‘ Insecta 
Britannica,’ and will contain descriptions 
of all the British species of Tortricina, 
with observations on their habits and 
localities. 
London: John Van Voorst, 1, Pater- 
noster Row. 
