The majority of Entomological Works

The majority of Entomological Works which have appeared,
during the last quarter of a century, and which have not only
given so great an impulse to the science, but have also imparted
to it a philosophical character, of which it was previously des-
titute, may be described as exhibiting either generalised views
of the subject; or, of elaborate technical details of the genera
and species of insects.

Thus, whilst the delightful Ijifrvduction to Entomology of
Messrs. Kirby and Spence, followed by Burmeister's Manual,
and, at more humble distances, by the Insect Architectuj'e, Trans-
formations and Miscellanies, the Grammar of Entomology, by
Newman, and my Entomologist's Text-Book, have made us ac-
quainted with the general details of insect habits and structure ;
the Illustrations and Descriptions of the Genera of British Insects
of Curtis, the Illustrations of British Entomology of Stephens,
the Essay on the Fossorial Hymenoptera of Shuckard, the Lepi-
doptera Britannica of Haworth, &c., have led us to the investi-
gation of the minute details of generic and specific distinctions.
The nature of these works necessarily rendered them essentially
different in the information they conveyed ; indeed, owino- to
the greater number of organs possessed by insects over the
higher animals, and the consequently great modifications to
which they are subjected in the different groups, in order to fit
them for performing their various functions, it must be evident
that the former class of works, unless extended to a irreat
number of volumes, must necessarily exclude the description