Part 33
If you examine the _Orders_ as here given, you will find that they mostly represent _natural primary_ groups of his Classes, though with regard to their _distribution_ you may perhaps feel disposed to differ from him. You will also think that his _secondary_ and _minor_ groups[1433], with the exception of some of his sections, merit the same character. Indeed, he has left far behind all his predecessors in the progress that he has made towards extricating the true system. Setting out from a common centre he holds on his unwearied course, endeavouring to trace every set of objects that branches from it to its extreme term. But though he studied insects _analytically_ with unrivalled success, he was not always equally happy in his _synthetical_ arrangement of them. I do not here so much speak of the result which must necessarily follow from any arrangement in a _series_, and which cannot well be avoided; but I allude particularly to his intire adoption of the Geoffroyan system in the _Coleoptera_, which has prevented him in many instances from seeing the natural distribution of his groups.
In 1798, two years after the publication of Latreille's first enunciation of his system, M. Clairville, a very acute and learned Swiss Entomologist, drew up the following analytical table of insects.
SECTIONS.
{ 1. Elytroptera { (_Coleoptera_). { 2. Deratoptera { Mandibulata { (_Orthoptera_). { { 3. Dictyoptera { { (_Neuroptera_). { Pterophora { { 4. Phleboptera { { { (_Hymenoptera_). { { { { { 5. Halteriptera { { { (_Diptera_). Insecta { { Haustellata { 6. Lepidioptera { { (_Lepidoptera_). { { 7. Hemimeroptera { { (_Hemiptera_). { Aptera {Haustellata 8. Rophoteira. {Mandibulata 9. Pododunera.
Every one will think that the change of the received names of the Orders, here denominated Sections, is perfectly needless. The principal merit of this system is the division of insects, tacitly pointed out by Fabricius, into two groups or subclasses, from the mode in which they take their food.
Lamarck,--whose merits as a Zoologist, except in one point[1434], are of the highest order,--in his _Système des Animaux sans Vertèbres_, which was published in 1801, adopts the above division of insects; but, after Aristotle[1435], he makes the _Hymenoptera_ an intermediate Order between the masticators and those that take their food by suction; he places the _Lepidoptera_ at the head of the latter, and the _Aphaniptera_, which he denominates _Aptera_, at the end[1436]: the Hexapod, Octopod, and Polypod _Aptera_ he considers as _Arachnida_[1437]. In his last great work (_Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres_) he includes the _Hymenoptera_ amongst the masticators, and reverses the disposition of his Orders, beginning with his _Aptera_ and ending with the _Coleoptera_[1438].
M. Le Baron Cuvier, in his _Anatomie Comparée_ (1805) divided _Insecta_ into two subclasses, from the presence or absence of _maxillæ_: thus--
_With Maxillæ._ _Without Maxillæ._
1. Gnathaptera. 1. Hemiptera.
2. Neuroptera. 2. Lepidoptera.
3. Hymenoptera. 3. Diptera.
4. Coleoptera. 4. Aptera.
5. Orthoptera.
His _Gnathaptera_ include the Isopod _Crustacea_, the _Arachnida_, the Polypod, and some of the Octopod and Hexapod _Aptera_; and his _Aptera_--_Pulex_, _Pediculus_, and the _Acarina_, with the exclusion of _Hydrachna_[1439]. It is remarkable enough that his Class as it stands, with a slight alteration, returns into itself, thus forming a circle; for his first Order (_Gnathaptera_) contains _Hydrachna_ and the _Thysanura_, and his last (_Aptera_) ends with the _Anoplura_, and _Acarina_.
All the French Entomologists have followed Olivier and Latreille in adopting, with some variation, Geoffroy's system with regard to the _Coleoptera_, which has rendered them all more or less artificial. Dumeril has constructed a table of the Order, arranged differently from that above given[1440] of Latreille; but not more natural, for the very same reason.
Our learned countryman, Dr. Leach, by his zoological labours has thrown much light on the natural distribution of the Animal Kingdom, and no department of that kingdom is more indebted to him than the _Annulosa_; of which I have before stated to you his _Classes_[1441]. I shall now give a table of his _Orders_ of _Arachnida_ and _Insecta_ Latr. and also his families, &c. of his Classes _Myriapoda_ and _Arachnides_[1442].
CLASS. ORDER. FAMILY.
{ Glomerides. { Chilognatha { Iulides. { { Polydesmides. Myriapoda { { { Cermatides. { Syngnatha { Scolopendrides. { Geophilides.
{ Podosomata { Pycnogonides. { { Nymphonides. { { { Sironides. { Polymerosomata { Scorpionides. { { Tarantulides. { { { Solpugides. Arachnides { Dimerosomata { Phalangides. { { Araneïdes. { { { Trombidides. { { Gammasides. { Monomerosomata { Acarides. { Cheyletides. { Eylaïdes. { Hydrachnides.
{Ametabolia { Thysanura. { { Anoplura. { { { Coleoptera. { { Dermaptera. Insecta { { Orthoptera. { { Dictyoptera. { { Hemiptera. { { Omoptera. {Metabolia { Aptera. { Lepidoptera. { Trichoptera. { Neuroptera. { Hymenoptera. { Rhiphiptera. { Diptera. { Omaloptera.
I have before expressed my sentiments upon several of these Orders[1443]: I shall not here repeat them, but shall merely observe, with respect to those I have not adopted, that, though perhaps not entitled to rank as _Orders_, most of them form natural groups. His Orders, however, of _Arachnida_ must be excepted from this remark, since they are evidently artificial. His analyses of his Orders, though in general they give natural groups, are usually not carried so far as those of M. Latreille, so as seldom to indicate what may properly be denominated _families_. He has made his nomenclature for his so-called families more uniform and satisfactory than that of the French Entomologist: and we may say, with respect to the extent and effect of his zoological labours,--_Nihil non tetigit, et omnia quæ tetigit ornavit_.
7. _Era of MacLeay, or of the_ Quinary _System._ I have more than once stated to you in my former letters the bases upon which the system which I am in the last place to explain to you is built. You know the Sub-kingdoms and Classes into which its learned and ingenious author, upon a novel and most remarkable plan, has divided the Animal Kingdom[1444]. I shall now copy for you his diagram of the _Annulosa_.
[Illustration: ANNULOSA]
I have before sufficiently noticed these Classes, or _Orders_ as Mr. MacLeay terms them, of the Sub-kingdom _Annulosa_: I shall here therefore only throw out a few remarks on their composition. With regard to their _circular_ distribution in the _Crustacea_, Mr. MacLeay thinks the series runs from the Branchiopods or _Monoculus_ L. to the Decapods or _Cancer_ L.; and so on, till by means perhaps of the genus _Bopyrus_, which Fabricius regards as a _Monoculus_, it returns to the Branchiopods again. This circle, through _Porcellio_, a kind of wood-louse, &c., which has only a pair of antennæ and at first but six legs, is connected with the _Ametabola_ Class, which beginning with _Glomeris_ goes by the other _Chilognatha_ (_Iulus_ L.), having also six legs at first, and certain _Vermes_ to the _Anoplura_, and terminates in the _Chilopoda_ (_Scolopendra_ L.) their cognate tribe[1445]. From the _Ametabola_ Mr. MacLeay proceeds to the _Mandibulata_, between which two groups he has discovered no osculant one, but he takes the _Anoplura_ of the former as the transit to the _Coleoptera_ in the latter; from whence passing to the _Orthoptera_, &c., he finally returns by the _Hymenoptera_. Between the _Mandibulata_ likewise and _Haustellata_ he finds no osculant class: but as the affinity between the _Trichoptera_ and _Lepidoptera_ is evident, proceeding by the _Homoptera_ he returns to the _Lepidoptera_ by certain _Diptera_, as _Psychoda_, &c. From the _Aptera_ Lam. or _Pulex_ L. he passes by the osculant class _Nycteribida_ to the _Arachnida_; and beginning with the _Acaridea_, he goes to the _Scorpionidea_, and so to the _Aranidea_ or spiders, which he connects with the Decapod _Crustacea_;--thus forming his great circle of _five_ smaller ones, each of which, as well as that which they form, returns into itself[1446].
We next take his Circles of _Mandibulata_: thus--
[Illustration: MANDIBULATA]
In this arrangement of the _tribes_, as he calls them, of _Mandibulata_, Mr. MacLeay sets out from the _Coleoptera_, which he distributes, according to the supposed typical forms of their _larvæ_, into five minor groups, sufficiently noticed on a former occasion[1447]. From this tribe or Order he proposes to pass by _Atractocerus_ to the osculant Order _Strepsiptera_, and from thence by _Myrmecodes_ and the Ants to the _Hymenoptera_. From hence he next proceeds to his _Trichoptera_; in which, as we have seen[1447], he places not only _Phryganea_ L., but also _Tenthredo_ L. and _Perla_ Geoffr., making his transit by _Sirex_ L.; forming an osculant Order which he denominates _Bomboptera_. From this his way to the _Neuroptera_ is by the _Perlides_, with _Sialis_ as an osculant Order under the name of _Megaloptera_: he enters by _Chauliodes_, and leaves it by _Panorpa_ or _Raphidia_ by means of _Boreus_, forming also an osculant Order (_Raphioptera_) for the _Orthoptera_; which he enters by _Phasma_, _Mantis_, &c., and leaves by _Gryllus_, entering the _Coleoptera_ again by the osculant Order _Dermaptera_ formed of _Forficula_ L.: and thus returning to the point from which he set out[1448]. He has not, however, made this return of the series into itself so clear in each order, excepting in the _Orthoptera_, as he has done in the whole Class or Sub-class. Thus in the _Coleoptera_ there appears no particular affinity between the Predaceous and Vesicant beetles, his first and fifth forms[1449], or his Chilopodimorphous _Coleoptera_, and his Thysanurimorphous.
To enter fully into his doctrine of Analogies would lead us into a very wide field, and occupy a larger space than I can afford; I must therefore refer you to his work for more particular and detailed information on that subject. With regard to the analogy between opposite points of contiguous circles, you may get a very good idea of it from his diagram of Saprophagous and Thalerophagous Petalocerous beetles, which I here subjoin.
[Illustration]
It is a very singular circumstance that in these two circles we have two sets of insects,--one _impure_ in its habits and feeding upon _putrescent_ food, and the other _clean_ and nourished by food that has suffered no _decay_,--set in contrast with each other, and that in each of the opposite groups, the one has its counterpart in some respect in the other. In none is this more striking than the _Scarabæidæ_ and _Cetoniadæ_, both remarkable for having soft membranous mandibles unfit for mastication, and both living upon juices, the one in a putrescent and the other in an undecayed state[1450].
Our learned author in subsequent works has stated every circle to be resolvable into _two_ superior groups, which he denominates _normal_ or typical, and _three_ inferior ones, which he calls _aberrant_ or annectent[1451].
Before I conclude this account of the various _general_ systems that have distinguished the different entomological eras, i must say a few words on those _partial_ ones which have been founded on the _neuration_ of the _wings_ of insects. Frisch, who died in 1743, attempted something in this way[1452]: Harris, in his _Exposition of English Insects_ published in 1782, had arranged his _Hymenoptera_ and _Diptera_ according to characters derived from this same circumstance[1453]: Mr. Jones in the _Linnean Transactions_ had made good use of it in dividing the _Diurnal Lepidoptera_ into groups[1454]: and in the _Monographia Apum Angliæ_, the characters exhibited by the various groups into which Linné's genus _Apis_ was resolvable, as to the neuration of their wings, were described[1455]. But M. Jurine was the first Entomologist who made that circumstance the keystone of a system; which indeed he restricted to Hymenopterous and Dipterous insects, but which might be extended much further. As this system has been before sufficiently enlarged upon[1456], I need here only mention it.
* * * * *
To particularize the various entomological works in every department of the science, that have appeared since the commencement of the era of Fabricius, would require a volume. Such was its progress and spread, that in every corner of Europe the pens and pencils of able and eminent men, whose works have almost all been quoted in the course of our correspondence, have been employed to illustrate it[1457].
I may observe, however, that the _Internal Anatomy_ of Insects, a branch of Entomology which on account of its difficulty, from the extreme nicety required in dissecting them, had before been cultivated by scarcely more than a single student in an age, has now attracted numerous votaries. In Germany--Carus, Gaede, Herold, Posselt, Ramdohr, Rifferschweils, Sprengel, and others, have distinguished themselves in this arena: and in France, besides the illustrious Baron Cuvier (himself a host), Marcel de Serres, Leon Dufour, and very recently, by his elaborate essays _On the Flight of Insects_ and its wonderful apparatus, one of the most acute of anatomical physiologists, M. Chabrier,--have all contributed greatly to the elucidation of this interesting part of the science. In our own country very little has hitherto been effected in this line; but a learned Oxford Professor (Kidd) has presented to the Royal Society an account of the anatomy of the Mole-cricket, which entitles him to an eminent station amongst the above worthies.
I may likewise further observe, that the _pictorial_ department of Entomology was, during the period I am speaking of, carried to its greatest perfection. Painters of insects formerly were satisfied with giving a representation generally correct, without attempting a faithful delineation of all the minor parts, particularly as to _number_;--for instance, the joints of the antennæ and tarsi, the areolets of the wings, &c.: but now no one gives satisfaction as an entomological artist unless he is accurate in these respects.
I am, &c.
FOOTNOTES:
[1316] See above, p. 364--.
[1317] _Genes._, ii. 19--.
[1318] _Pol. Synops._ on _Genes._ ii.
[1319] _Genes._ i. 25.
[1320] _Linn. Trans._ iv. 51--. See _Levit._ xi. 20--.
[1321] The _Neuroptera_ appears to be the only Order not so signalized. It is worthy of notice that insects are usually noticed _generically_ and not _specifically_ in Scripture. On the insects of Scripture see Bochart _Hierozoic._ ii. 1. iv.
[1322] _Isai._ vii. 18. _Joel_ ii. _Rev._ ix. 3.
[1323] _Prov._ xxx. 24--.
[1324] 1 _Kings_ iv. 33.
[1325] _Linn. Trans._ i. 5.
[1326] VOL. III. p. 6.
[1327] _Ibid._ l. i. c. 5.
[1328] _Ibid._ l. iv. c. 7.
[1329] _Ibid._
[1330] _Ibid._ l. v. c. 19.
[1331] Aristotle calls winged insects _Pterota_ when he would distinguish them from those that are apterous, and _Ptilota_ when he contrasts them with birds. (Comp. _Hist. Anim._ l. iv. c. 1. with l. i. c. 5.) Sometimes he calls birds thus contrasted _Schizoptera_, and insects _Holoptera_. _De Anim. Incess._ c. 10.
[1332] _Ibid._ l. i. c. 5.
[1333] _Ibid._ and l. iv. c. 7.
[1334] _Ibid._
[1335] _Hist. Anim._ l. iv. c. 1.
[1336] _Ibid._
[1337] _Ibid._ l. viii. c. 11.
[1338] Gr. Ον τροφης χαριν εχει οδοντας αλλ' αλκης. Αλκη means _Strength of mind_, _Fortitude_, _Strenuousness_, also _Help_:--it here probably signifies their strenuous use of their oral organs in fulfilling their instincts. _De Partib. Anim._ l. iv. c. 5.
[1339] _Hist. Anim._ l. iv. c. 7.
[1340] _Ibid._
[1341] Gr. Αερσιποτητος αραχνη. _Dies._ lin. 13.
[1342] _Hist. Nat._ l. xi. c. 25.
[1343] VOL. I. p. 481. VOL. II. p. 121--.
[1344] _De Natur. Animal._ l. vi. c. 20.
[1345] _Ibid._ l. xv. c. 1.
[1346] _Opera_ vi. 683.
[1347] _Ibid._ 153--.
[1348] _Ibid._ 154, 233, 265, &c.
[1349] _Opera_ vi. 676, 679, 680.
[1350] See above, p. 428.
[1351] _Opera_ vi. 682--.
[1352] _Esperienz. ed Osserv._ i. 42--.
[1353] Pultency's _Sketches of Botany in England_, i. 86.
[1354] _Theatr. Insect. Epist. Ded._ i.
[1355] _Theatr. Insect. Epist. Ded._ i.
[1356] _Theriotroph. Siles._ 455.
[1357] Aristotle (_Hist. Anim._ l. i. c. 1.) says, "The sponge seems to have some sensation: as a proof, it is not easily plucked up, unless, so they say, the attempt is concealed."
[1358] Lister's Goedart, _Præf._ ii.
[1359] See VOL. I. p. 65--, where these terms are explained.
[1360] Swamm. _Bibl. Nat._ i. 38--.
[1361] _Ibid._ 92--.
[1362] _Ibid._ 119--.
[1363] _Ibid._ ii. 1--.
[1364] _Ibid._ 31--.
[1365] _Ibid._ 30.
[1366] _Hist. Ins._ Prolegom. ix.--
[1367] These are all _Annelida_.
[1368] Larvæ.
[1369] Various _Aptera_ and the Bed Bug.
[1370] _Nymphon._
[1371] _Scorpio._
[1372] Spiders, _Phalangia_, and Mites.
[1373] _Iulus._
[1374] _Scolopendra._
[1375] _Annelida._
[1376] This section is divided by the author into thirteen tribes.
[1377] _Lepidoptera._
[1378] _Apis_, _Bombus_, &c.
[1379] _Vespidæ._
[1380] _Andrena_, _Halictus_, _Nomada_, &c.
[1381] _Crabro_, _Philanthus_, _Cerceris_, &c.
[1382] _Serifera_? _Ichneumon_, &c.
[1383] _Trichoptera._
[1384] _Pimpla Manifestator_, and other _Ichneumonidæ_, with a long ovipositor.
[1385] Our author has followed Swammerdam in this unnatural separation of those _Diptera_ whose metamorphosis is coarctate from the rest; and in associating with them the _Chalcidites_, whose metamorphosis is really different. Into this error both were led by system.
[1386] _Philos. Lett._ &c. 141.
[1387] _Ibid._ 343.
[1388] Ray died in 1705, and Linné was born in 1707.
[1389] When a boy he attempted to introduce wasps and bees into his father's garden, to the great annoyance of the old gentleman.--Stœver's _Life of Linnæus_, 4.
[1390] _Ibid._ 75.
[1391] Linn. _Philos. Botan._ n. 87, 188, 189.
[1392] See above, p. 342, n. 5.
[1393] Linn. n. 291.
[1394] _Fn. Suec._ Præf.
[1395] VOL. III. p. 681--.
[1396] _Histoire abrégée des Insectes._
[1397] See the opposite page.
[1398] The first volume of his _Mémoires_ was published in 1752.
[1399] The first volume of this work was published in 1734, the sixth and last in 1742.
[1400] Reaum. i. Mém. vi. vii. and Mém. ii. 68--.
[1401] Smith's _Tour_, iii. 150.
[1402] VOL. I. p. 175. Also see above, p. 166--.
[1403] Bonnet i. 19--.
[1404] We have been informed that these valuable remains are at length likely to be rescued from oblivion, and given to the public.
[1405] VOL. II. p. 48, note^a.
[1406] Since the former edition of these volumes was published, another and most important association has been formed, having for its object the Animal Kingdom solely; which not only has a museum to receive specimens of dead animals (by the liberal donation of its present learned secretary, of his own rich collection, and from other sources, already most interesting both as a spectacle and to the student), but also a Vivarium, in which a considerable and curious assemblage of living animals may be seen. This association, which is named THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, is principally indebted for its formation to the efforts of a great, amiable, and lamented character, the late Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, whose merits were equally conspicuous both as a Politician and a Naturalist, and who was its first President.
[1407] Linné is recorded to have said, "Si Dominus Fabricius venit cum aliquo _Insecto_, et Dominus Zoega cum aliquo _Musco_, tunc ego pileum detraho et dico: Estote doctores mei." Stœver's _Life of Linnæus_. 186.
[1408] Fab. _Philos. Entomolog._ Præf.
[1409] VOL. III. p. 416.
[1410] _Philos. Entomolog._ vi. §. 2. _Syst. Ent._ Prolegom.
[1411] From Ελευθερος, Free.
[1412] Derivation uncertain. Perhaps Αυλων, A long and narrow space or tract.
[1413] Συνιστημι, To stand together.
[1414] Πιεζω, To press.
[1415] Οδους, A tooth.
[1416] Μιτος, A thread.
[1417] _Unogata_ is probably a mistake for _Onychata_; from Ονυξ, A claw.
[1418] Doubtless for _Polygnatha_; from Πολυς, Many, and Γναθος, A jaw.
[1419] Κλειστος, Closed, and Γναθος.
[1420] Εξω, Without, and Γναθος.
[1421] Γλώσσα, A tongue.
[1422] Ῥυγχος, A rostrum.
[1423] Αντλια, A pump.
[1424] Dispositio insectorum sistit divisiones s. conjunctiones eorum, et est _artificialis_ quæ _Classes_ et _Ordines_, et _naturalis_ quæ _genera_, _species_, et _varietates_ docet. _Philos. Entomol._ vi. §. 2.
[1425] _Ibid._ §. 7.
[1426] Latreille _Gen. Crust. et Ins._ iii. 214.
[1427] With respect to Natural Genera he says--"Cavendum tamen ne nimis imitando _naturam_ systematis amittamus filum Ariadneum." _Ibid._ § 6.
[1428] Fab. _Entomolog. Syst. em. et auct._ i. Præf. iv.
[1429] Fabricius calls this a chaos, and threatens to prove it, but he never fulfilled his threat. See Fab. _Supplem._ Præf. i.
[1430] _Introd. ad Hist. Nat._ 401.
[1431] See _N. Dict. d'Hist. Nat._ x. article _Entomologie_; and _Familles Naturelles du Règne Animal_ 262--.
[1432] These tables, except the first, are taken from the _Familles Naturelles du Règne Animal_. As a new edition of M. Le Baron Cuvier's _Règne Animal_ is preparing, M. Latreille will doubtless give in it a still more improved arrangement of the _Crustacea_, _Arachnida_, and _Insecta_.
[1433] Several of the minor groups given in the table he has further resolved before he arrives at his genera.
[1434] VOL. III. p. 348, note^c.
[1435] See above, p. 433.
[1436] _Syst. des Anim. sans Vertèbr._ 185.
[1437] _Ibid._ 171.
[1438] _Anim. sans Vertèbr._ iii. 332--.
[1439] _Anat. Comp._ i. _t._ viii.
[1440] _Expos. d'une Meth. Nat._ 17.
[1441] VOL. III. p. 19.
[1442] _Linn. Trans._ xi. 376. N. B. I have transferred from the _Arachnida_ his suborder _Notostomata_, as he subsequently placed it at the end of _Insecta_, under the _Omaloptera_.
[1443] See above, pp. 378, 380, 385, 390.
[1444] VOL. III. p. 14.
[1445] See VOL. III. p. 25--. and above, p. 394--.
[1446] _Hor. Entomolog._ _c._ vi.
[1447] See above, p. 382.
[1448] _Hor. Entomolog._ 420--.
[1449] _Ibid._ 422.
[1450] Other systems or methods have been promulgated by various authors, as by Schæffer, Scopoli, Geoffroy, &c. Walckenaer and Blainville have proposed one founded on the number of the _legs_ of insects; but those in the text are the principal and best known.--_N. Dict. d'Hist. Nat._ xvi. 277.
[1451] _Linn. Trans._ xiv. 59--. _Annulos. Javan._ 6. See above, p. 408.
[1452] Latreille _Gen. Crust. et Ins._ iii. 226. note 1.
[1453] _Præf._ ii.
[1454] _Linn. Trans._ ii. 63--.
[1455] _Mon. Ap. Angl._ i. 211--.
[1456] VOL. III. p. 620. n. 3.