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THE AMERICAN 
and character of a butterfly than there is between 
a ship’s name—the Furious , the Coquette, or 
the Betsy-Jane —and the moral disposition or 
appearance of the vessel that bears it.” 
This, of course, is to be regretted; but so far 
as names already bestowed are concerned, the 
evil is irremediable. But may we not ask that 
sjthose entomologists who devote their energies 
mainly to the description of genera and species 
should, in the future, take some little trouble to 
seek out names which convey an accurate idea 
of that which they wish to describe ? and always 
accompany it by a translation, so as to prevent 
any possibility of misconstruction of their mean¬ 
ing. There is another point of great importance. 
In forming a new species or genus, why not 
always give the distinctive differences that dis¬ 
tinguish the new species or genus from its 
hearest congener or family? Rennie, in his 
valuable synopsis of British Lepidoptera, says : 
Acherontia— Wings entire and acute, the 
jaws short. 
Sphinx —Wings entire and acute, jaws long- 
ish, and the antennae not clubbed at the tip. 
The inference here may be that Sphinx is 
distinguished from Acherontia by its longer 
jaws, and by not having the antennae clubbed 
at the tip. But we are not told which sort of 
antennae Acherontia has, and the learner would 
certainly hesitate before drawing the above infer- 
literature, writing elaborate Latin diagnoses dj 
probable new species, or turning out descrip¬ 
tions of improbable ones, at the rate of so many 
per hour, is apt to imagine that his occupation 
constitutes Entomology; and, as a consequence, 
he too often looks down upon the poor fly¬ 
catcher with something like contempt; but foi 
all that, the despised collector often, of the two. 
does the more for science, by which is here 
meant the acquisition and diffusion of sound 
knowledge, and not the art of piling up a 
synonymy for the bewilderment of future gene: 
rations. The observer, on the other hand, wher 
his observations are conducted with caution anc 
carefully recorded, is the most scientific ; or it 
other words does'more than the other two pu 
together to acquire and diffuse knowledge.” 
As I have already said, I have no doubt tha 
the superciliousness of the literary Entomologis; 
may have some effect upon his language; but i 
he will remember that “ science must be catho¬ 
lic to be worthy of the name,” doubtless he will 
henceforth, seek to obtain that catholicity by 
writing in as plain English as he finds himsell 
Tomato Fruit-worm— We learn from a re¬ 
cent number of Scientific Opinion, that at a late 
meeting of the London Entomological Society, 
Mr. Jenner Weir exhibited specimens of our 
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