16 
Journal New York Entomological Society. tvoi. vi- 
in the case of Mr. Meyrick, who puts the Caradrinidae “ at the head.” 
As matters stand Mr. Meyrick will undoubtedly be applauded to the 
echo by Mr. Hulst. Because, in the Lepidoptera, “students have 
specialized (!) and few collectors, even, go outside of the Macro- 
Lepidoptera.” Prof. J. B. Smith has, “therefore (?) secured the co¬ 
operation of Dr. Plenry Skinner in the Rhopaloceraand Dr. Skinner 
warrants the endorsement of the Preface of the Philadelphia List by 
placing the Milkweed Butterfly “at the head” of the “ Nymphalidse. 
After this specimen of “modern classification” one may well put the 
List by with the feeling that whatever may be the cardinal error of the 
Boston creed, neither in Brooklyn or Philadelphia is there any salva¬ 
tion. The suppression of vein VIII of the secondaries, in the most 
specialized of the Emperor Moths, is a direct monition of the value of 
the character in the Papilionides. In this latter super-family the more 
specialized forms show clearly additional features of advancement, so 
that the lessons taught by the suppression of vein VIII is no longer 
needed to enable us to appreciate their development. The reason why 
this was not considered is, that the gauge for specialization offered by 
the wing was not understood, so that loose notions as to sequence and 
rank we & re not only permitted, but, the more bizarre they were the more 
they were thought “scientific,” until at last we are landed in the 
anarchy offered us by Mr. Meyrick. 
The Attacinae have served us here for a text upon Papilio , and to the 
Emperor Moths we now return. The fact that the diminution of the 
radial veins in a secondary development, occurring in pursuance of 
evolutionary law, up and down throughout the more specialized groups 
(such as the Parnassinse, Pierinae, Lycseninse, Saturniadae and Aghadae), 
is shown by a table published by me separating the genera of Attacinae 
as the Radius is 3 or 4 branched. For a study of the whole insect leads 
me to regard the 3-branched Philosamia as a specialization of the 4- 
branched Attacus with which its phylogeny probably lies, rather than as 
nearly related to Sarnia ; with which it has the suppression of III3 in 
common. 
Leaving the Attacinae, with open cell, we come to the more gener¬ 
alized Saturnianae* with the crossvein present and, so far as I can see, 
almost everywhere at least partially functional. Undoubtedly here is a 
* It is more correct to commence with the more generalized forms, but I have be¬ 
come convinced that in the Lepidoptera it will always be more practical to adhere to 
the Linnean sequence, and this for a variety of reasons, among them this, that the 
contrary course will never be adopted by “ collectors,” who wilLhus be deprived of 
the light thrown or reflected by “ scientists.” 
