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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov. 1, 1870. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Queen of Spain Eritillauy.— Occurren- 

 ces of this exceedingly scarce butterfly (once almost 

 disputed as British) have been reported the last 

 few years, and from a variety of localities ; so that 

 it is evident, in the most of them, there can be no 

 collusion or deception. In the greater number of 

 cases only solitary individuals are taken ; now and 

 then, within the range of a limited district, two or 

 three have been taken ; and in one or two instances 

 only have several been taken in the same spot. This, 

 like some other notable British instances of the 

 occurrence of rare insects, opens up several very 

 curious questions not easily solvable. Some of these 

 captures of solitary specimens have been made upon 

 ground where entomologists are accustomed to 

 work, and we ask naturally in surpi'ise in this and 

 similar cases, "How strange it is that no more 

 should occur ! " A single butterfly taken, it is evi- 

 dent, must have had parents— it must have been 

 one out of a number of other caterpillars at one 

 period of its history; since female caterpillars de- 

 posit a number of eggs, rarely perhaps less than a 

 hundred. Did a proportion of these also become 

 butterflies ? If so, how is it they were none of them 

 seen ? Or, if Ave suppose the decease of all but two 

 or three out of the whole brood, it seems strange 

 that this should happen repeatedly, and in very 

 different localities. Besides, the occurrence of an 

 insect at some date proves a long succession of an- 

 cestors extending back to an indefinite period ; since 

 we have no reason for believing that the work of 

 creation is still going on ; and the " advanced 

 guard " of modern naturalists have not as yet de- 

 monstrated infallibly that one species can transmute 

 itself or be transmuted into another. The particular 

 economy of the " Queen of Spain," so far as known, 

 renders the case of its excessive scarcity more 

 inexplicable. The perfect insect, if not so feeble on 

 the wing as its relatives Eaphrosy?ie and Selene, is 

 not one likely to take extensive flights ; and all the 

 species of the family are fond of mustering at some 

 metropolis, being social in their habits. The cater- 

 pillar also, a feeder upon low plants, is not likely 

 to wander far from its food, nor is there any reason 

 why it should be more liable than others to die 

 immature. Patient investigation may at length 

 elucidate these abstruse chapters in insect life. — 

 /. B. S. Clifford. 



Bred Specimens in Collections of Insects. — 

 The season is now approaching when entomologists, 

 ceasing, in a great measure, from their out-door 

 labours, betake themselves to the lighter, though 

 not always more agreeable employ, of arranging the 

 captures of the previous season. I feel tempted to 

 repeat, in the largely -circulating Science-Gossip, a 

 hint I threw out some years ago in a periodical of 



limited range. It is this, that in all cases those 

 specimens of Lepidoplera which have been bred in 

 confinement from eggs received through correspond- 

 ents, and the precise history of which is unknown, 

 should be distinguished from individuals taken at 

 large by the collector himself, or which are the 

 progeny of others he has thus taken. There are 

 some species, such as the scarce Chocolate Tip 

 (Closlera anachoreta), nearly all the specimens of 

 which in cabinets have been obtained by breedings, 

 which is a matter of ease with these and most of the 

 fat-bodied moths ; but the history of the insects we 

 place in our cabinets ought not to be a matter of 

 indifference, and, though it is well to fill up vacant 

 places with individuals we may not be able to iden- 

 tify with any locality, in default of other specimens, 

 when we can ascertain the habitat of a species, we 

 should be careful to register it. Owing to the 

 neglect of noting down these, and the practice of 

 some entomologists, who have placed eggs, larva?, 

 or imagos of some of our butterflies and moths in 

 certain localities with a view to establish colonies 

 of them, a degree of confusion has arisen which 

 appears likely to be increased. In every instance 

 where he can, the collector should mark his captures, 

 in order to isolate them from those bred specimens 

 in his cabinet of more dubious history, which are of 

 necessity allowed a place there. — /. R. S. Clifford. 



The Eorces of the Universe. — It has hitherto 

 been the prevailing practice with experimenters to 

 search for minute germs or material entities as the 

 embodiments of vital organizations and the starting- 

 points of life, as is illustrated by the foregoing ex- 

 periments, instead of contemplating natural creation 

 and Nature's operations, under wider and broader 

 bases. Yitalized germs are no doubt the minutest 

 stages in the existence of animal organisms ; but it 

 must be remembered that neither germs nor organ- 

 isms developed from germs can exist independent 

 of their external surroundings. The manifestations 

 of animal and vegetable life are only visible to us 

 when correlated with matter. Vegetation is corre- 

 lative with air and earth ; so are animals correlative 

 with plants, and the human race with animals. We 

 see that the atoms of one part of creation and the 

 atoms of another part of creation do not exist in- 

 dependent of each other, but are interwoven one 

 with another throughout the whole superstructure 

 of creation, moulded and governed by forces which 

 are universally applicable to all. That the physical 

 forces of the universe fulfil an important part in 

 the affairs of life is made manifest to us in its mani- 

 fold forms throughout the animal and vegetable 

 world. The decarbonization of the blood of living 

 animals ; the elimination of carbon from atmo- 

 spheric air by the leaves of plants ; the acidifying 

 of food in the stomach, and the alkalizing of the 

 same food in the duodenum for a destined purpose ; 



