THE 
WEEKLY ENTOMOLOGIST. 
“ ENTOMA ClUIDQUID AGTJNT NOSTRI EST FARRAGO LIBELLI.” 
No. 2.— Yol. 2.] SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1863. [Price 2d. 
BOOKS. 
two principal inlets of tile 
ideas of others to the mind are 
the eye and the ear. In telling this 
to onr readers we are simply repeat- 
ing a truism, but it is often with 
profit that we recal a truism to our 
minds. Every day we are receiving 
ideas that have not originated with 
ourselves, by means of conversation 
with others, and every day we are 
receiving such thoughts by means of 
their writings. It is, then, evident 
that, to derive instruction from 
another’s scientific researches, his ac- 
tual presence and voice are not neces- 
sary. Cicero tells us “ non cum vitas 
tempore esse dimitttendam commem- 
orationem nominis nostri,” and this 
is surely the case among Entomolo- 
gists. How many “fathers” of the 
science there are, the remembrance 
of whose deeds has not ended with 
their performance ! How we revere 
the names of Linne, Fabricius and 
others ! how much information and 
advantage we should gain by actual 
intercourse with them if that were 
possible ! We may still gain much of 
the profit that would result from it, 
by the study of their writings. 
The only limitation then to our re- 
ceiving the knowledge that others 
have acquired, provided we cannot 
hear their bodily voice, is the limita- 
tion imposed on us by the difficulty 
of obtaining their writings. 
Entomological books have so small 
a sale that they are generally printed 
in small quantities, for no-one but an 
Entomologist would think of buying 
them, — as the Rev. F. 0. Morris 
reminded us last week. And so it 
comes to pass that when a few years 
have gone by since their publication, 
books of this class become rare, and 
are only in the hands of a favoured 
few. We have an instance of this in 
the “Horse Haworthianae ” which 
Mr. Kirby is contributing to our pages, 
he being one of the “favoured few ” 
who possess the original work. 
Again, many treatises on Ento- 
mology containing much that would 
interest the community of English 
collectors have been written, printed, 
and published, in France Germany 
and other countries and, conse- 
quently, in French, German, and 
other languages. These books are 
still more inaccessible, for besides, 
in many cases, being difficult to obtain, 
to a very large proportion of Entom- 
