GENERA. 85 
genera of moths are all creatures of one 
kind. 
Mother. Genera is the plural of the 
term genus, a Latin word, which, strictly 
speaking, means a race, or family, or 
breed ; but, like the terms class and 
order, it has been adopted in the various 
subdivisions of natural history, and de- 
notes any collection of the different spe- 
cies, which agree in one or more essential 
characters. For example, in the genus of 
moths every species flies by night, and 
has taper antennae ; while the lesser pe- 
culiarities, such as the shape of the 
wings, the spots and colours, the length 
of the antennae, or their being more or 
less feathered, mark the particular spe- 
cies. Genera, you perceive, is used to 
express more than one genus. 
Luci/. Thank you, mamma ; I now 
clearly understand, that the whole order, 
called lepidoptera, consists of three ge- 
nera; first, the genus of hutterflies ; se- 
condly, the genus of sphinges ; and 
thirdly, the geuus of moths. 
