The Structure and Life-history of the Cockroach (Periplaneta orientalis)

The Structure and Life-history of the Cockroach (Periplaneta orientalis) - An Introduction to the Study of Insects

That the thorough study of concrete animal types is a necessary preliminary to good work in Zoology or Comparative Anatomy will now be granted by all competent judges. At a time when these subjects, though much lectured upon, were rarely taught, Dllinger, of Wrzburg, found out the right way. He took young students, often singly, and made them master such animal types as came to hand, thereby teaching them how to work for themselves, and fixing in their minds a nucleus of real knowledge, around which more might crystallise. What do you want lectures for? Bring any animal and dissect it here, said he to Baer, then a young doctor longing to work at Comparative Anatomy.1 It was Dllinger who trained Purkinje, Pander, Baer, and Agassiz, and such fame cannot be heightened by words of praise. In our own time and country Dllingers methods have been practised by Professor Huxley, whose descriptive guides, such as the Elementary Biology and the delightful little book on the Crayfish, now make it easy for every teacher to work on the same lines. From the description of the Cockroach in Huxleys Anatomy of Invertebrated Animals came the impulse which has encouraged us to treat that type at length. It may easily turn out that in adding some facts and a great many words to his account, we have diluted what was valuable for its concentration. But there are studentsthose, namely, who intend to give serious attention to Entomologywho will find our explanations deficient rather than excessive in detail. It is our belief and hope that naturalists will some day recoil from their extravagant love of words and names, and turn to structure, development, life-history, and other aspects of the animal world which have points of contact with the life of man. We have written for such as desire to study Insects on this side. Whoever attempts to tell all that is important about a very common animal will feel his dependence upon other workers. Much of what is here printed has been told before. The large number of new figures is, however, some proof that we have worked for ourselves. It is a pleasant duty to offer our thanks for friendly help received. Professor Flix Plateau, of Ghent; Mr. Joseph Nusbaum, of Warsaw; and Mr. S.H. Scudder, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, have very kindly consented to treat here of those parts of the subject which they have specially illustrated by their own labours.2 Mr. E.T. Newton, of the Jermyn Street Museum, has lent us the wood blocks used to illustrate one of his papers on the Brain of the Cockroach. A number of the figures have been very carefully and faithfully drawn for us by Miss Beatrice Boyle, a student in the Yorkshire College. We are much indebted to Dr. Murie, the Librarian of the Linnean Society, for procuring us access to the extensive literature of Insect Anatomy, and for answering not a few troublesome questions. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 52172
Author: Denny, Alfred
Release Date: May 28, 2016
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Contributor (Author): Miall, L. C. (Louis Compton), 1842-1921