6 



which the structure and lives of these tiny creatures suggest. 

 In the case of the Indo-Germanic peoples there is, to aid 

 this, a decided tendency to the study of Natural History, 

 to investigate the material constitution of the world in which 

 we live and of which we form a part. 



Collecting with the net over flowers in the evening, 

 when the Hawk Moths are active, is a very alluring pursuit. 

 Verbena beds, where the flowers are of the white variety, 

 against which the hovering Moths are more easily seen, 

 I have found very productive. An intelligent and charming 

 writer, Mrs. C. H. Fernald, has given us a list of the 

 cultivated plants attractive to these insects. I may be 

 forgiven for quoting her words : ,,Most people love flowers 

 and cultivate them for their beauty and fragrance, but to 

 collectors of insects some of them have a double charm, 

 for they attract some of the most beautiful and rare 

 Lepidoptera. The common lilac, Sijrhuja rnlgaris and the 

 Tartarian and Siberian Honeysuckles, when in full bloom, 

 during the hottest hours of a bright, sunny day, are a 

 perfect paradise for several of the Lepidoptera, as well as 

 numerous Hymenoptera and Diptera. The gaudy Papilio 

 tnriuts sails proudly over the highly scented flowers, frequently 

 dropping down to sip the nectar; and Hemaris diffinis and 

 tliysle, with an occasional gracilis, whiz about the flowers 

 as "busy as the bees." Then, at twilight, the larger Sphinx 

 moths, f/ordins and cJt(u>iaeerii, and rarely luscitiosa, dart 

 swiflly from shrub to shrub, and from flower to flower, 

 requiring a quick eye and hand to capture them. Heliophila 

 (ilbiUnca, P/tixia simplex, and prccatiouis, and occasionally 

 a limaculata are also taken on these flowers. I have 

 captured more insects on Oaiotl/crtt Lamarckiana, than on 

 any other plant. A plot about three feet square gives from 

 fifty to one hundred fresh flowers about four inches in 

 diameter every evening, and if the seed pods are picked 

 off, they may be kept in bloom for three months." In addition 

 to the OcHnthcra, or Evening Primrose, of which Mrs. Fernald 

 writes, my kind friend Mr. L. W. Goodell of Amherst, Mass., 

 notes the cultivated varieties of Datura, Mignonette, Alyssum, 



