Page:Jardine Naturalist's Library Exotic Moths.djvu/76

72 by the author. It was designed to be the precursor of several other works on the natural history of that country and of Otaheite, where the author spent nearly eight years, and was published in the hope that the profits of the sale would enable him to return to his native country; a prospect, however, which was unhappily not realised, for he died at Sidney in 1821. The work is now extremely rare, and it is probably on that account that the interesting groups which it describes have not much attracted the attention of recent entomological writers. The extensive works of Hubner and Herbst deserve a conspicuous place among the illustrated works devoted to the Lepidoptera, and there are many others of great merit which we cannot afford space more particularly to advert to. Of those authors who have arranged the heterocerous Lepidoptera systematically, it is scarcely necessary to allude to the well known classifications of Linnæus and Fabricius. The former at one time included the whole in his genus Phalæna, but he afterwards added the genus Sphinx, and divided Phalæna into numerous sections. Latreille was the first who attempted a natural arrangement, which appeared in 1796, in the "Precis," &c. of which we have already spoken. Following out the views of Mr. Macleay with regard to a circular relation of affinities, several British authors have endeavoured to apply his principles to the insects in question. Mr. Stephens, the author of one of the best