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). | ||||||
| Mandibulata | 2. Deratoptera (Orthoptera). | |||||
| 3. Dictyoptera (Neuroptera). | ||||||
| Pterophora | 4. Phleboptera (Hymenoptera). | |||||
| Insecta | 5. Halteriptera (Diptera). | |||||
| 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].