THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S 
WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
No. 102.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1858. [Price id. 
DISCOVERY. 
The path of discovery is often a very 
tortuous one, and when a discovery 
can only be made by a series of ob- 
servations, the fact that these observa- 
tions are made singly, and only form 
a series when collected together, is 
often a real difficulty in the path of 
the philosophic student. Some try, in- 
deed, to generalize from every indi- 
vidual fact, but surely they impede 
their own progress thereby, and nothing 
can be more distressing than to see 
great powers misapplied, in the vain 
attempt to construct theories, for which 
the facts are not accumulated. 
We have been led to these observa- 
tions by a very interesting discovery 
made by one of our younger foreign 
correspondents, Herr Ottmar Hofmann. 
This young entomologist has for some 
years proved a valuable assistant to his 
father, Herr Friedrich Hofmann, com- 
munications from whom have frequently 
enriched our pages, and the discoveries 
that have already been made by him 
lead to great expectations of his future 
entomological career. 
Herr Ottmar Hofmann’s special pre- 
dilection would appear to be the case- 
making larvae of the genera Solenobia 
and Adela ; certainly in the latter genus 
he has been most successful. We have 
already recorded (Intel, ii. p. 20, 21) 
“ The History of a Long-horned Moth,” 
Nemotois Violellus, of which the young 
larvae feed in the unripe seed-vessels of 
Gentian, and, soon after quitting the 
seed-vessels, provide themselves with flat 
cases, and feed on the flowers and leaves 
of the Gentian. Subsequently (Intel, 
iii. p. 12) our readers will see, from the 
same source, a sketch of the habits of 
Nemotois Dumerilellus , but in this in- 
stance the habit of the young larva 
was only suspected. “ Probably the 
larva of Nemotois Dumerilellus feeds 
in autumn, in a juvenile form, in the 
fructification of some low plants, per- 
haps of Hieracium , and afterwards 
forms a case, in which it winters on 
the ground.” 
We have now received from Herr 
Hofmann larvae of Adela Fibulella, an 
insect which for many years past ento- 
mologists have remarked has a very 
decided predilection for the flowers of 
the Veronica Chamadnjs , It now ap- 
pears that the perfect insect deposits 
its eggs in or on the unripe seed- 
capsules of that plant, aud the larvte 
when first hatched feed within the 
2 B 
