PREFACE. 
VII 
whole work can be guaranteed. Moreover the editor’s thanks may also be rendered here to the administrations 
of the Berlin, Stockholm, and English Museums, especially the British, Tring, and Hill Museums, which were 
of the greatest advantage to the collaborators by rendering their enormous materials accessible to them. 
Our gratitude is also due to the art-establishment of Werner & Winter now united with the Hauser 
Press, who succeeded in improving year by year, according to the progress of technique, their careful and life¬ 
like work; above all our thank is also due to the publishers who by their untiring activity for the exclusive 
benefit of this work have endeavoured to meet all the requirements sometimes arising under the greatest 
external difficulties. It was only by renouncing all profit before the first series of volumes was completed that 
it was possible, in spite of the rapidly rising costs of the production, expenses, taxes, and wages, to keep the 
price of both the serial numbers and of the whole volume at a height that might be afforded by the readers. 
Immediately after the completion of this volume that of the parallel volumes (Mol. 6 and 10) from 
the American and Indo-Australian Faunae was urged forward, of which now, at the completion of the Sphingidae, 
all the large lepidoptera have been dealt with excepting some Gossidae. Although the work had continually 
increased, it was possible to publish, between the serial numbers for Part II of this work, the additional numbers 
for Part I (Palaearctic Fauna). The most difficult, costly and extensive work has been advanced so far that 
the Supplementary Volume I is already printed, whilst II and III have been commenced; by the speedy 
publication of this additional part we will show that the usefulness of our work does not lose by incessant 
renovations and that neither the publishers nor the editor omit anything for maintaining its value as a manual. 
We therefore also beg to submit to the various shortcomings of this work as being inevitable. In order 
to complete per month 4 German, 4 English and often also French serial numbers, the average time for the 
production of each serial number containing 1 or 2 printed sheets and 1 or 2 plates is limited to hardly more 
than 3 days. If we were not to keep to these dates of publication, this would cause a delay and retardation in 
the continuation of the work, since the material is steadily increasing. I myself regret most of all some misprints 
or other possible slips, yet their entire prevention by further revisions of sheets or plates would bring about 
an excessive retardation of the edition. For all these reasons I cannot but ask the readers to criticize leniently 
the said inevitable shortcomings and to apologize for the impossibility of considering the often justifiable 
desires of various subscribers to prefer this or the other single chapter. 
The great usefulness of the total work is generally esteemed by its owner only when, as for instance 
during the time of collecting abroad, it is impossible to use the museums and works at home. I am writing 
these lines on the verandah of a Brazilian country-house, from where I can look over the sun-lit garden-beds, 
and now being able to identify dozens — often hundreds of lepidoptera flying about me in a few minutes, I 
truly feel the enormous contrast to my first visit to South America 42 years ago, when the foreign collector 
was quite unable to ascertain biological observations, to value barters, the occurrence of undescribed forms etc. 
If this purpose of the work, to identify a species on the spot, to recognise novelties or the value of an insect, 
or to ascertain biological peculiarities of species, has been attained, the work has fulfilled its main task. 
Ypiranga, January 1930. 
Dr. Adalbert Seitz. 
