Mr. Kirby, I suppose, was induced to associate in the same section _Panurgus_ and _Nomada_, from their resemblance in general habit, which in both conforms to the type predominant in the _Andrenidæ_, although they are thence dislocated by the differences in the important organs of the mouth, which verify in this case the seeming paradox of a part being greater than the whole; for these are certainly of greater relative importance to the economy of the creature than mere general habit, and to which all the peculiarities of structure finally converge, for the purpose of giving it what it thence acquires, its own proper and distinctive place in the series of created beings. The most extensive work since published upon bees generally, is that treating of the _Hymenoptera_ universally, written by Le Pelletier de St. Fargeau, and comprised in four thick octavo volumes, contained in the ‘Suites à Buffon.’ In this work both the genera and species of our bees occur, of course conjunctively with the rest, but its utility, especially to the beginner, is materially diminished by the peculiar systematic views of the author. The distribution of the Order is framed chiefly upon the economy of the insects, which is not so tangible as structure, and blends very heterogeneous forms,—widely separating, in some cases, structural affinities, and sometimes uniting discordant habits. Wasps and bees we here find intermingled, and to commence study with this work would much perplex the student. It can be used beneficially only when some progress has been made in the pursuit. The only British entomologists who have treated of the bees since the time of Mr. Kirby, are Stephens, Curtis, Westwood, and Smith,—the first in his elaborate ‘Catalogue of British Insects,’ published in 1829; and the second in his ‘Guide to the Arrangement of British Insects,’ published in 1837. The arrangement of the family of bees in both these works is exceedingly arbitrary and without any obvious reason, either as regards the consecutive order of the genera or species. This originated possibly in their personal rivalry, which led them to make their systems as dissimilar as they could, and as unlike the true order as they could well dispose them. Both arrangements are certainly far beneath criticism. In the Synopsis of Westwood, at the end of his ‘Guide to the Classification of Insects,’ published in 1840, and in Smith’s ‘Catalogue of the British Bees, contained in the Collections of the British Museum,’ published in 1855, we have Latreille’s distribution, with slight modifications, to which I shall not advert at present, but which I shall discuss in my next chapter, where I shall introduce the arrangement I myself propose for the combination of the genera of British bees. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VIII.