As I cannot see the least resemblance between the Byrrhidse 
and the Histeridae, except that the legs are contractile, I con- 
sider there is no affinity between them, and have placed the 
latter between the Lucan idse and the Nitidulae. Some of the 
Histeridae seem to approach the Lucanidas, not only in (eco- 
nomy but in figure and the form of the antennae, and in some 
the mandibles are strongly developed and very powerful. 
The true Histers live principally in dung and dead animals, 
but as they fly in fine weather, they are found basking in the 
sun on walls and foot-paths in fields, & c. 
The following are recorded as British species. 
1. H. 4-maculatus L. — Curt . Brit. Ent. jpl. 470. 
I purchased an entirely black variety in the Cabinet of the 
late Mr. E. Blunt, who took it near Southend, where Mr. C. 
Parsons has also found it, and I am indebted to Mr. W. Clifton 
for some fine varieties that he took at Pegwell Bay and on the 
ramparts at Gosport in July and August, in great abundance. 
2. unicolor L. — Pk. Mon. tab. 2 ,f 7. — inaequalis Mar . 
3. cadaverinus Pk. t. 2.f. 8. — unicolor Oliv. 
4. merdarius Pk. t. 3.f. 1. & tab. 1 . the trophi, larva and pupa. 
4 a . Marshami Ste. 3. pi. 13. f. 5. 
5. 4-notatus III. — Pk. t. \2.f3. — 4-maculatus F. 
6. sinuatus Pk. t. 1*2. fi 2. — 4-maculatus Mar. 
7. 12-striatus Pk. t. 3.f. 5. — bissexstriatus DuJ \ 
8. bimaculatus L. — Pk. t. 3.f. 6. — erythropterus F . 
9. parvus Mar. 
9 a . corvinus Germ . — 12-striatus Duft. 
9 b . Nigrita Ste. 
10. stercorarius Pk. t. 4 ,f 3. 
11. neglectus Meg. — 11*. Leading. 
12. carbonarius Pk. t. 3.f. 8. — 12-striatus F. — impressus F. ? ' 
12". quisquilius Ste. — 12 b . Kirbii Ste. 
1 3. purpurascens F. — Pk. t. 3.f. 7. — bipustulatus & brunneus 
Mars . var. 
.13*. castanipes Kirby. — 13 b . caliginosus Ste. 
14. virescens Pk. t. G.f. 7. — 14 a . violaceus Mar. 96. 
15. metallicus F. — Pk. t. 6. f. 3. — smaragdinus Curt. 
15 a . semistriatus Ste. — 16. seneus F. — Pk. t. G.f 6. 
17. 4-striatus Pk. t. G.f. 5. 
18. pulcherrimus Web. — speculifer Lat . — Pk. t. G.f. 4. 
19. conj ungens Pk. t. G.f. 1. 
20. nitidulus F. — Pk. t. 5.f. 3. — semipunctatus Pk. t. 4 .f 8. 
The Plant is Ornithogalum umbellatum (Common Bethle- 
hem Star), communicated by W. W. Saunders, Esq., from a 
meadow near Wimbledon, 
