finished is possessed, like the imago of a butterfly, of any superiority over its preceding parts. Thus much only can be said for it-that as an insect, of what sort soever, is sure to become an object of increased interest to those who have followed it through its progressive stages, so it is hoped that the ensuing series, making up the entire of an entomological year, may be read with increased relish by those who have followed it through its progressive periods :-this, because with all that pertains to natural knowledge "l'appétit vient en mangeant." To the same class of subjects belongs yet another merit, noticeable here because most sensibly felt, both by those that write and those that read, when they come to the conclusion of a book devoted to any one of them. In a sustained work of fiction, or even in one on an historic theme sedulously explored and vivified con amore, a writer may often entertain, in common with his readers, a feeling of regret at having done with the persons and scenes of his own creation, or such as have become familiar in their recalment from the depths of the past; but it is never thus with the objects drawn from the world of nature. With these neither writer nor reader are ever called upon to part. They may have done, the former with presenting, the latter with having them presented, under some certain form, but to both, when once endeared by awakened interest, they are ever present, and for ever assuming new aspects to engage thought and kindle affection-adoration. Completed works on natural subjects? There are no such things! The most scientific of them is but the commencement of a story without an end;"-the least so (this among " them) is but an invocation to begin and read it! CONTENTS AND DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece. BEETLES IN GENERAL. An assemblage of Beetles, most of which are described or mentioned in Epis- On the plant of Meadow Sorrel (Acetosa pratensis) to the left, are two small rida, of which another, on the wing, is ascending towards them. To September. The insects in this Vignette are of the allied families Achetida, Gryllidæ, and Locustida. On the bank, beside its nest-hole, is a Field Cricket (Acheta campestris). On the clover-leaves opposite sits a female Grass- hopper (Gryllus), with her sword-shaped ovipositor. Ascending the grass above is one of the small green Locustidæ, common in damp meadows; and flying upwards in the centre is the Acrydium (or Locusta) subulatum, a species with very small elytra, figured in Curtis's British On a Currant-leaf in the foreground lies a caterpillar of the Magpie Moth "The Puss, in its greatness, a prey to parasites." Wealth and grandeur, in likeness of a "Puss Caterpillar " (a prince amongst its fat fraternity), at once drained and incensed by parasitic satellites of 24 |