Part 31

After the taking of Constantinople by the Turks in the middle of the fifteenth century, the light of learning, kindled by those of its professors who escaped from that ruin, appeared again in the West. The Greek language then began to be studied universally; and in consequence of the coeval invention of the art of printing, various editions of the great works of the ancients were published: amongst the rest those of the fathers of Natural History. From the perusal of these, the love of the sciences of which they treated revived in the West, and the attention of scientific men began to direct itself to the consideration and study of the works of their CREATOR. In the latter part of that century, a work entitled the _Book of Nature_ appeared in the German language, in which animals and plants were treated of and rudely figured; as they were likewise most miserably in Cuba's _Ortus Sanitatis_, published in 1485, in which insects and _Crustacea_ were described under the three different denominations of Animals, Birds, and Fishes; so that but little profit was at first derived from the writings of Aristotle, Invertebrate animals not being then even honoured with

"A local habitation and a name."

This unpromising and apparently hopeless state of the science proved, however, the dawn of its present meridian brightness.

The first attempt at a separate and systematical arrangement of insects subsequent to the times of Aristotle, was made in the ponderous volumes of Ulysses Aldrovandus, who, disregarding the Stagyrite, arranged insects according to the medium they inhabit, as you will see in the subjoined table:

{Membranacea {Favifica. {Anelytra { {Non Favifica. {Alata {Elytrota. {Farinosa. { {Pedata { { {Aptera {Paucipeda. _I_ {Terrestria { { {Multipeda. _n_ { {Apoda _s_ { _e_ { {Pedata {Paucipeda. _c_ { { {Multipeda _t_ {Aquatica { _a_ {Apoda

This artificial and meager system, which mixed insects with _Annelida_, was adopted by Charlton and other authors; and even in the eighteenth century had a patron of great eminence, who, endeavouring to improve upon it, has rendered it still more at variance with nature and Aristotle: I mean the celebrated Vallisnieri, to whom in other respects, though in this he fell behind his age, the science was under great obligations. He divides insects into, 1. Those that inhabit _vegetable_ substances living or dead. 2. Those that inhabit any kind of _fluid_ and in any state. 3. Those that inhabit any _earthy_ or _mineral_ substances, _dead bones_, or _shells_. And 4. Those that inhabit _living animals_[1352].

The work that is usually called Mouffet's _Theatrum Insectorum_ was produced in the present era, and was the fruit of the successive labours of several men of talent. Dr. Edward Wotton and the celebrated Conrade Gesner laid the foundation; whose manuscripts falling into the hands of Dr. Thomas Penny,--an eminent physician and botanist of the Elizabethan age[1353], much devoted to the study of insect,--he upon this foundation meditated raising a superstructure which should include a complete history of these animals; and with this view he devoted the leisure hours of fifteen years of his life to the study of every book then extant that treated of the science either expressly or incidentally, and to the description and figuring of such insects as he could procure; but before he had reduced his materials to order, in 1589 he was snatched away by an untimely death. His unfinished manuscripts were purchased at a considerable price by Mouffet, a contemporary physician of singular learning[1354], who reduced them to order, improved the style, added new matter, and not less than 150 additional figures; and thus having prepared the work for the press, intended to dedicate it to queen Elizabeth[1355]. Fate, however, seemed still to frown upon the undertaking, for before he could commit his labours to the press he also died, and his book remained buried in dust and obscurity till it fell into the hands of Sir Theodore Mayerne, baron d'Aubone, one of the court physicians in the time of Charles I., who at length published it, prefixing a Dedication to Sir William Paddy, baronet, M.D., in 1634; and it was so well received that an English translation appeared twenty-four years afterwards. The work thus repeatedly rescued from destruction was indisputably the most complete entomological treatise that had then appeared. And though the arrangement (in which there is scarcely any attempt at system) is extremely defective, the figures very rude, often incorrect, and sometimes altogether false,--yet as an introduction to the study of insects its value at that day must have been very considerable; and as a copious storehouse of ancient entomological lore, it has not even at present lost its utility.

One of the most remarkable works of the era we are upon was published at Lignitz in the year 1603, by Caspar Schwenckfeeld, a physician of Hirschberg, under the title of _Theriotrophium Silesiæ_. This was probably the first attempt at a Fauna that ever was made. In it animals are divided into quadrupeds, reptiles, birds, fishes, and insects. The _Crustacea_, _Mollusca_, and _Zoophytes_, are included under fishes. He says of the _Spongiæ_ that they are _moved_ by animalcula which inhabit them[1356]. Did he borrow this observation from Aristotle, or was it made by himself[1357]? It is singular that Linné should never allude to this work. Goedart, who belongs also to this era, is stated to have spent forty years of his life in attending to the proceedings of insects[1358]. But after this long study, his principal use to the science was the improvement he effected in the drawing and engraving of them,--for his figures, though sometimes incorrect and sometimes fabulous, were far superior to those of his predecessors.

3. _The Era of Swammerdam and Ray, or of the_ Metamorphotic _System_. The great men whose names are here united, as they were cotemporary, so they agreed in founding their respective systems of insects on the same basis. To the former, however, is due the merit of being the first who assumed the _metamorphoses_ of these animals as the basis of a natural arrangement of them; upon which the latter, in conjunction with his lamented friend Willughby, erected that superstructure which opened the door for the present improved state of the science. Swammerdam's system may be thus expressed in modern language:

{Class i. Metamorphosis complete[1359] = _Aptera_ L.[1360] { { ii. ------ semicomplete {_Orthoptera_, { { _Hemiptera_. { {_Libellulina_, { { _Ephemerina_[1361]. { _Insects_ { { {_Coleoptera_, { { { _Hymenoptera_, part of { { incomplete { _Neuroptera_ and { iii. -----{ { _Diptera_[1362]. { { { { obtected _Lepidoptera_[1363]. { { iv. ---- coarctate {_Ichneumones_ { { _minuti_ L.[1364] { {_Muscidæ_, &c[1365].

It was a great point gained in the science to introduce the consideration of the metamorphosis, and to employ it in the extrication of the natural system: for though when taken by itself it will, as in the table just given, lead to an artificial arrangement, it furnishes a very useful clue when the consideration of insects in their perfect state is added to it. The tables contained in the _Prolegomena_ to Ray's _Historia Insectorum_ divide insects into those which undergo no change of form, and those which change their form. The arrangement of the former Αμεταμορφωτα was made by Willughby, who subdivided them into _Apoda_ and _Pedata_. As the only insects included in the former section were the grubs of _Œstri_, the remainder being _Annelida_, they need not be included in our table. I have endeavoured to compress these tables into as small a space as possible, by using the Linnean terms for metamorphosis, and reducing Ray's tribes of _Orthoptera_, _Hemiptera_, and _Neuroptera_ to their modern denominations.

Ray details at considerable length the various tribes belonging to the four classes of metamorphosis established by Swammerdam[1366]. Most of his tribes indicate natural groups of greater or less value: but some of his larger groups are artificial, as you will see by the mere inspection of the table.

INSECTA

_Ametamorphota_

Apoda _Terrestia_[1367]. _Aquatica_.

Pedata

_Hexapoda_

_Terrestia_[1368] _Majora_[1368]. _Minora_[1369].

_Aquatica_[1370].

_Octopoda_ Caudata[1371]. Non caudata[1372].

14-_poda_.

24-_poda_.

30-_poda_.

_Polypoda_

Terrestia _Cylindrica_[1373]. _Compressa_[1374].

Aquatica[1375] _Corpore tereti_. ------ _plano_. _Bicaudata_.

_Metamorphumena_

Metamorphosis semicompleta[1376] _Orthoptera_. _Heteroptera_. _Homoptera_. _Libellulina_. _Ephemerina_.

Metamorphosis incompleta vel obtecta

_Coleoptera_.

_Anelytra_

Alis farinaceis[1377].

Alis membranaceis

_Diptera_.

_Tetrapter_

Gregaria et Favifica _Mellifica_[1378]. _Non Mellifica_[1379].

Solitaria non Gregaria et Favifica

_Apiformia_[1380].

_Vespiformia_ Breviora[1381]. Augustiora[1382].

_Papilioniformia_[1383].

_Seticaudæ_, seu _Tripilia_[1384].

Metamorphosis coarctata _Muscidæ_ et _Ichneumones minuti_ L.[1385]

This era produced several great and original geniuses, who enriched the science with a vast increment of real knowledge. The illustrious Zoologists whose names it bears,--the one by his dissections and anatomical researches, and the other by his concise and well drawn descriptions of numerous insects, by various interesting observations on their manners and characters, and by the purity of his latinity,--contributed greatly to its progress towards perfection. Leeuwenhoek also, the compatriot of Swammerdam, and Hooke of Ray, amongst other objects submitted to their powerful microscopes, did not neglect insects.--To the former we are indebted for the remarkable discovery that the flea belongs to those that undergo a metamorphosis. Ray had besides two coadjutors whose names ought not to be forgotten,--Willughby and Dr. Martin Lister. The former is characterized by his lamenting friend as one of the profoundest of naturalists, as well as one of the most amiable and virtuous of men. What advantage Entomology would have reaped from his labours may be inferred from the eminent services that he rendered that science, amongst other branches of Zoology, during his short life. It appears from Ray's Letters[1386], that he drew up a history of insects and _exsanguia_, which probably formed the groundwork of the posthumous _Historia Insectorum_ of that author; concerning which he says, "The work which I have now entered upon is indeed too great a task for me: I rely chiefly on Mr. Willughby's discoveries and the contributions of friends[1387]." And indeed Willughby's name and initials occur so frequently in that work, that it may be esteemed their joint production. Lister by his various writings elucidated many points relating to insects; and he may be regarded as the first modern who observed that spiders can sail in the air. But the most important of his works, and that on which his fame as an Entomologist is principally founded, is his admirable treatise _De Araneis_; in which his systematic arrangement of these animals leaves far behind all former attempts, and rivals that of the best modern Arachnologists. His specific descriptions are drawn with a precision till then unknown; and each is headed by a short definition of the species, which he calls the _Titulus_, synonymous with the _Nomen specificum_ of Linné, whose canon of twelve words it rarely exceeds.

One of the most important events of this era was the complete exposure and refutation of the absurd doctrine of _equivocal generation_, which had maintained its ground in the schools of philosophy from the time of Aristotle. Our own immortal Harvey was the first who dared to controvert this irrational theory: and his _dictum_--_Omnia ex ovo_--was copiously discussed and completely established by two of the ablest physiologists that Italy has produced, Redi and Malpighi.

Previously to the publication of the _Historia Insectorum_, no other works of eminence, with the exception of Madam Merian's beautiful illustration of the metamorphosis of the insects of Surinam, made their appearance: but in the interval of twenty-five years, which elapsed between the publication of that work and of Linné's first outline of his _Systema Naturæ_, Entomologists became more numerous and active. In England the pious and learned author of the _Physico_ and _Astro-Theology_ was celebrated for the assiduity with which he studied insects; and in the former of these works has concentrated a vast number of interesting observations connected with their anatomy and history. No Englishman contributed more to the progress of Natural History, both as a writer and collector, than that disinterested physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane, whose extensive and valuable library and well-stored cabinets formed the original nucleus of the present vast collection of the British Museum. Amongst other departments, that of insects was not overlooked by him; and it is to be regretted that those which he had accumulated have either perished from neglect or are not accessible. Other Entomologists were eminent at this period in Britain. The principal of these were Petiver, Dale (to whom Ray bequeathed his collection of insects), Bobart, Bradley, and Dandridge; the last of whom, as Bradley tells us, delineated and described 140 species of spiders.

I must not omit here to observe that our ROYAL SOCIETY, the origin of which took place in this era, communicated a new and powerful impulse to the public mind in favour of Physical Science, and greatly accelerated the progress of Natural History. It acted not only as a centre of excitement which stimulated to exertion, but also as a focus to collect the scattered rays of light before they were dissipated. Insulated observations in every department of nature were thus preserved; and communications from the most eminent naturalists in various parts of Europe ornamented its _Transactions_. So that from the establishment of this illustrious Society, the triumphant march of Physical Science of every kind towards its acme may be dated.

4. _Era of Linné, or of the_ Alary _System._ We are now arrived at that period in the history of Natural Knowledge, especially of Entomology, in which it received that form, with respect to its general outline, which, amidst many lesser mutations, has been preserved ever since. Swammerdam had altogether deserted the system of Aristotle, and Ray mixed it with that of his predecessor. But a brilliant star soon appeared in the North[1388], which was destined to be the harbinger of a brighter day than had ever before illuminated the path of the student of the works of God. The illustrious philosopher whose name distinguishes this new era, imbibed a taste for Entomology almost as early as for Botany[1389]; and though the latter became his favourite, and absorbed his principal attention, he did not altogether neglect the former. In the first edition of his _Systema Naturæ_, published in 1735, and contained in only _fourteen_ folio pages[1390], he began to arrange the three kingdoms of nature after his own conceptions. But this initiatory sketch, as might be expected, was very imperfect; and with respect to insects, instead of an improvement upon his predecessors, was extremely inferior to what Ray had effected; for he puts into one Order (to which he gives the name of _Angioptera_) the _Lepidoptera_, _Neuroptera_, _Hymenoptera_, and _Diptera_. In this work, however, Generic Characters were first given. In successive editions he continued to improve upon this outline: in the _fourth_ he finally settled the _number_ and _denominations_ of his Orders; and in the twelfth (uniting the _Orthoptera_, which he had at first considered as of a _Coleopterous_ type, to the _Hemiptera_) also their _limits_. His system, being founded upon the absence or presence and characters of the organs for flight, is in some degree a republication of the Aristotelian, and may be called the _Alary_ System.

{ { Superior { crustaceous with a straight _Coleoptera_ 1. { { { suture { { { semicrustaceous, incumbent _Hemiptera_ 2. { 4.{ { imbricated with _Lepidoptera_ 3. { { { scales Wings { { All { membranous-- { unarmed } _Neuroptera_ 4. { { Anus { aculeate } _Hymenoptera_ 5. { 2. Poisers in the place of the _Diptera_ 6. { posterior pair { 0. Or without either wings or _Aptera_ 7. { elytra

In considering this table, it must strike every one acquainted with the subject, that although the assumption of a single set of organs whereon to build a system can scarcely be expected to lead to one perfectly natural, yet that the majority of the groups here given as Orders merit that character. The _second_ indeed and the _last_ require further subdivision, and concerning the _fourth_ no satisfactory conclusion has yet been drawn. With regard to his _series_ of the Orders, it is mostly artificial. Linné has the advantage of all his predecessors in giving clearer definitions of his Orders, and in their nomenclature; in which he has followed the path first trodden by Aristotle.

One of his most prominent excellencies, which led the way more than any thing else to a distinct knowledge of natural objects, was his giving definitions of his genera, or the groups that he distinguished by that name, since all preceding writers had merely made them known by the imposition of a _name_. His generic characters of insects were of _two_ kinds: A shorter, containing the supposed _essential_ distinction of the genus, given at the head of the _Class_; and another, generally longer, and including _non-essentials_, given at the head of the _Genus_. The first he denominated the _essential_, and the latter the _factitious_ or _artificial_ character. He did not do for insects what he did for Botany,--draw up what he has called the _natural_ character of a genus, which included both the others, and noticed every other generic distinction[1391].

The older Naturalists used to treasure in their memories a short description of each species, by which when they wished to speak or write of it they made it known. Thus, in speaking of the common lady-bird they would call it "the _Coccinella_ with red _coleoptra_[1392] having seven black dots." This enunciation of any object was at first called its Title (_Titulus_), and afterwards its Specific Name (_Nomen specificum_), and by Linné was restricted to _twelve_ words[1393]. But as the number of species increased to remember each definition was no easy task; that he might remedy this inconvenience, he invented what is called the Trivial Name (_Nomen triviale_), which expressed any species by a single term added to its generic appellation, as _Coccinella septem-punctata_; and thereby conferred a lasting benefit on Natural History. This convenient invention has rendered it less necessary to restrict the _Nomen specificum_ to twelve words: it is desirable, however, that the definition of a species should be as short as possible, and contain only its _distinctive_ characters. In his definitions and descriptions Linné was often very happy; but sometimes, in studying to avoid prolixity, he forgets Horace's hint,

... "Brevis esse laboro Obscurus fio--"

and makes his definitions of species, without adding a description, so extremely short as to suit equally well perhaps a dozen different insects. The minor groups into which he has divided some of his Orders and Genera are sometimes natural, sometimes artificial. Those of the _Coleoptera_, from characters drawn from their antennæ (as is evident from his arrangement of the genera in that Order), are of the latter description; while those of his _Aptera_ are more natural. The genera that he has most happily laboured in this respect are his Hemipterous ones of _Gryllus_, _Cicada_, and _Cimex_, and all his _Lepidoptera_. He had such a tact for discovering natural groups in general, that in him it seems almost to have been intuitive.

But in no respect were the labours of Linné more beneficial to the science and to Zoology in general, than when he undertook to describe the animals of his own country. His _Fauna Suecica_ is an admirable exemplar, which ought to stimulate the Zoologists of every country to make it one of their first objects that its animal productions shall no longer remain unregistered and undescribed. Botanists have almost every where been diligent in effecting this with respect to plants, but other branches of Natural History have been more neglected. In his _Systema Naturæ_ Linné attempted this for all the productions of our globe. The idea was a vast one; and the execution, though necessarily falling far short of it, did him infinite honour: and in it he has laid a foundation for his successors to build upon till time shall be no more.

Such were the services rendered to Entomology by the labours of the immortal Swede; services so extensive as well as eminent, that had they been the fruit of a whole life devoted to this single object, they would have entitled him to a high rank amongst the heroes of the science. But how much more astonishing are they when considered but as gleanings from his hours of relaxation, snatched from labours infinitely greater, the produce, as he himself tells us, of moments consumed by others in "venationibus, confabulationibus, tesseris, chartis, lusibus, compotationibus[1394]." It is not so much in original discovery that the merits of Linné lie,--though considered in this view they are pre-eminent,--as in the unrivalled skill with which he sifted the observations of his predecessors, separating the ore from the dross, and concentrating scattered rays of light into one focus.

This era produced other systematists who adopted various methods, but none that merit particular notice except Geoffroy and De Geer. The former in this view is principally celebrated as the author of the method generally adopted by modern Entomologists, of dividing the _Coleoptera_ into primary sections, according to the number of the joints of their tarsi. This method, though in many instances, as was formerly observed[1395], it leads to artificial results, in others affords a clue to natural groups; it can only therefore be applied subject to frequent exceptions. Geoffroy's work[1396], which was published in 1764, was further serviceable by indicating many genera not defined by Linné.

GENERAL ORDERS. CLASSES. CLASSES. {I. _Wings_ covered { with scales. _Tongue_ { spiral. { LEPIDOPTERA. { {II. _Wings_ membranous, { naked. _Mouth_ { without teeth or tongue. { TRICHOPTERA. { EPHEMERINA. { {III. _Wings_ membranous, {I. Four Wings { equal, reticulated. { without { _Mouth_ with teeth. { wing-cases { Rest of { { NEUROPTERA. { { { {IV. _Wings_ membranous { { unequal, nervures mostly { { longitudinal. _Mouth_ { { with teeth. A _sting_ { { or _borer_ in the { { female. { { HYMENOPTERA. { { { {V. _Wings_ membranous. { { _Tongue_ bent under { { the breast. { { HOMOPTERA Leach. { { {VI. _Elytra_ half { { coriaceous and half { { membranous, crossed. A pair { { of membranous _wings_. { { _Tongue_ bent under the { { breast. HEMIPTERA {II. Two Wings { Leach. { covered by { {I. Having { two {VII. _Elytra_ coriaceous { wings { wing-cases { or semicrustaceous, { { { aliform. A pair of { { { membranous _wings_. { { { _Mouth_ with teeth. { { { ORTHOPTERA. { { { { { {VIII. _Elytra_ hard and { { { crustaceous. A pair of { { { membranous _wings_. { { { _Mouth_ with teeth. { { { COLEOPTERA. { { { { {IX. A pair of membranous INSECTS { { { wings. A pair of { { { _poisers_. _Mouth_ { { { with a tongue without { { { teeth. DIPTERA. { { { { {III. Two Wings {X. A pair of membranous { { uncovered { _wings_. No { { _poisers_, _tongue_, { { or _teeth_ in the _male_. { { No _wings_ but a _tongue_ { { in the breast of the { { _female_. COCCUS L. { { {IV. Undergoing {XI. No _wings_. Six _legs_. { { a { _Mouth_ with a tongue. { { metamorphosis { APHANIPTERA. { { {II. Without { {XII. No _wings_. Six _legs_. { wings { { _Head_ and _Trunk_ { { distinct. HEXAPOD { { APTERA, TERMES, { { PSOCUS. { { { {XIII. No _wings_. 8 or {V. Undergoing { 10 _legs_. _Head_ { no { united to the _trunk_. { metamorphosis { OCTOPOD APTERA, { ARACHNIDA, { CRUSTACEA. { {XIV. No _wings_. 14 { _Legs_ or more. _Head_ { separated from the trunk. { POLYPOD APTERA. { CRUSTACEA.