GEOGRAPHY OF THE GENERA. 
95 
the happy chance, which may never recur, or only at 
long intervals. 
Nor can I too impressively reiterate the importance 
of noting both special localities, altitude, temperature, 
season, flora, etc., as being all conducive to the widest in¬ 
struction upon the subject. Indulging in the hope that 
travellers will act upon these suggestions, and thus con¬ 
siderably add to the value of what they may industriously 
collect, we must patiently await until time brings it 
about. 
Encouraging this expectation, I have summarily col¬ 
lected, under their topical arrangement, the notices 
which precede, but which are there arranged in the 
generic order of the bees. 
From the information we thus possess, we learn that 
some of our genera have an extremely wide diffusion, 
and occur in countries where we might have expected 
that other forms would have superseded them in the 
offices they are ordained to fulfil. None of the schemes 
for the geographical distribution of insects yet pro¬ 
pounded, seem to curb the eccentricities of their range. 
The regions proposed by Fabricius in his ‘Philosophia 
Entomologica/ they break through as readily as through 
the concentric circles of the cobweb when this opposes 
them: and all I can do is to present them as they offer 
themselves, with the remark that the occurrence of soli¬ 
tary forms in certain localities are almost sure indica¬ 
tions that allied genera would be found at hand were 
they heedfully sought. It will also be observed, that in 
some places a parasitical genus, and its known sitos, 
only, have been captured there. 
The following list will strongly show how totally our 
genera of bees are unaffected by isothermal, isotheral, 
