HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



201 



grandest and most picturesque forms." To this 

 might safely be added her smallest or most minute 

 forms, for as the resort of insect life the New Forest 

 stands pre-eminent. 



All I intend doing in this paper is simply to record 

 those insects that struck me the most ; so, first, I must 

 mention consortaria, a great gray geometer, spread 

 out flat on the bark of fir-trees that stand in rows along 

 the sides of the enclosures. Extersaria also, though 

 less conspicuous, was equally visible, from its habit 

 of taking to the wing more readily ; it was no un- 

 common thing to see half-a-dozen fluttering in front 

 of you at the same moment. It is hard to give an 

 idea of the profusion of insect life that revels in these 

 lovely spots, but it is a fact that in a single enclosure 

 one may walk along miles of rides amid a perfect 

 swarm of these geometers, if only an occasional tap 

 with a stick be given to the trees in passing. 



In Rhinefield enclosure S. fiiciformis flies freely 



Fig. 115. — The Pale-Oak Beauty (Boartnia consortaria). 



known I will not trouble you with the names. 

 Suffice it to say, that Gladiolus Illyriciis was abundant, 

 but it requires some perseverance to hit the exact spot. 



I was fortunate on settling the question about 

 Cicada hamatodcs being a native of these islands, 

 but here I must mention the name of W. G. Tate, 

 who took it in the larva state and bred it this spring ; 

 the specimen is in my possession. From a few hints 

 I gave him, having taken it myself in America, I do 

 not doubt he will have more to dispose of before the 

 end of the season. 



Should any one feel inclined to try his luck in this 

 neighbourhood I would recommend him to call on the 

 above-mentioned entomologist, also on W.J. Gerrard, 

 in the High Street, Lyndhurst, both of whom did their 

 best, in the most friendly manner, to put me on the 

 track of the local insects. B, Piffard. 



Fig . 116. — Sf'hiyix fusiforinis. 



among the azaleas and rhododendrons. Piniaria 

 dances among the topmost boughs of the pines in 

 most parts, and on Emery Down Orion clings to the 

 trunks of oaks and beeches, while in the glades 

 cool damp and grassy, sinapis is not unfrequently met 

 with. But the great climax of the entomologist's 

 happiness is at night. 



It was, I think, on the 24th of June, that I saw a 

 sight unsurpassed by anything I had ever seen before 

 (though not a novice, having naturalised in every 

 quarter of the globe). The sugar had been spread, 

 but scarcely had this been done when a general 

 scramble of Lepidoptera ensued ; they swarmed from 

 every quarter, and although there was such a general 

 demand for places at sugar, I noticed that Orion 

 occupied some sixty places or more, and Turca and 

 Thalassina seemed quite capable of taking care of 

 themselves. 



With regard to the plants they are mostly so well 



THE EXTINCTION OF RARE PLANTS. 



WILL you allow me, through the medium of 

 Science-Gossip, to call the attention of its 

 readers, particularly its botanical readers, to the 

 extermination of rare indigenous forms by unscru- 

 pulous collectors ? I have long been hoping to see 

 this subject taken up by some able contributor, but 

 as no one appears to have noticed it, I venture to 

 direct your readers' attention to the fact myself. 



It is our native ferns that suffer most from the hands 

 of these collectors, as will appear from the pages of 

 a recent number of " The Bazaar," in which I notice 

 fourteen advertisements offering "Lovely Devonshire 

 ferns," "Native Devonshire ferns," "Lake ferns," 

 &c., for sale ; and some of the advertisements hint 

 at the wholesale destruction of these lovely wildings, 

 for instance, one advertiser offers "Native Devon- 

 shire ferns, one, two, or three dozen roots post free 

 for 8, 14, or 20 stamps ; " another has a dozen of our 

 rare ferns from the Lake district for fifteen stamps ; 

 still worse in my opinion is the one who offers fifty 

 roots of Osfnunda regalis for 2s. gd. from a Lake 

 station. I wonder do these iconoclasts ever feel any 

 twinges of conscience when pursuing their nefarious 

 occupation (for it is nothing else) ? 



It is not the sending of a few specimens of rare 

 ferns to a fellow admirer that the writer objects to, 

 but the fact that, for the miserable increase to the 

 year's income of a few shillings, there are those who 

 will persist in destroying localities for ferns that are 

 already becoming rarities. When I instance such 

 ferns as Aspkninm viride, Allosorus crispus, Poly- 

 podium robertianiun, P. phegoptcris, P. dryopteris, 

 &c., occurring in the above advertisements, your 

 readers will, I think, admit that my indignation is not 

 without reason. 



If Parliament does not deem our native songsters 

 beneath its notice, surely botanists need not regard 

 the objects of their especial study as unworthy their 



