MISCELLANEODS NOTICES. 1S9 



and the hollowed one, ■which he called Lathyri, I sent him the shapes of each. — Tliis was not 

 enough to convince him! 



3rdly. — That they in like manner varied in width, some being here again intermediate between 

 the broad one he allowed to be Sinapis, and the narrow one he called Lathgri. — This was not 

 enough to convince him! 



Yet, observe, on these three supposed distinctions, he grounded his assertion. Neither of the 

 two latter, it will be perceived, is, as shewn above, any ground whatever, in the present species, 

 of specific distinction, and the former is applicable to none of my specimens or figures. 



I should here add that Mr. Dale admitted that he had himself formerly figured two specimens 

 of P. Dispar, to prove that the width of the wings might vary. 



2ndly., as to the Vanessa Hampstediensis. — Let it be observed how guarded I was in what I 

 said of it in my account. — "The only specimen of this insect that has ever yet been recorded, 

 was captured at Hampstead, near London, by Albin, and then first described and figured by 

 Petiver. It has since been continuously figured and described by succeeding Entomologists, who 

 have faithfully copied the original picture. By some it has been considered a foreign specimen, 

 accidentally imported ; by others as the product of two different species. The specimen is however 

 no longer in existence, and cannot speak for itself; no 'Ecce signum' can now testify to the 

 truthfulness of the Entomologist who shall pretend more accurately to describe it, than in the 

 stereotyped form which has come down to the present day." 



Mr. Dale said that I ought not to admit it at all, because it must have been a mistake of 

 Petiver to say that Albin took it at Hampstead, and that he must have meant the "Isle of 

 Amsterdam." 



To this I replied, and reply, — 



1st. — That Petiver' s express words are, (I quote from my copy of Haworth,) '■'■Papilio oculatus 

 Hampstediensis ex aureo fuscus, (Albin's Hampstead Eye,) where it' was eaught by this curious 

 person, and is tlie only one I have yet seen." 



2ndly. — That if he had meant the "Isle of Amsterdam," he would have said so. 



3rdly. — That Amstelodamum being the Latin for Amsterdam, the word in this case would 

 have been Amstelodamensis, and not Hampstediensis. 



4thly. — That Hampstediensis means "of Hampstead." 



5thly. — That the Isle of Amsterdam is described as a barren rock in the Indian Ocean, on 

 which it was remarkable that not a single insect was to be found except the Common Fly! 



He then said that there were three Isles of Amsterdam ; but he could neither toll me in which 

 of the three the Butterfly was taken, nor when, nor by whom. 



6thly. — That every Entomologist of eminence, down to Stephens and Curtis, has given it as 

 British. 



"The very height and front" of my "gravamina et reformanda" "hath this oflfence no more." 



I think, therefore, that I have sufiiciently proved myself right in both points— Q E D. 



Not to trust too much, however, to my own judgment, I have (which was indeed Mr. Dale's own 

 proposition,) consulted Mr. Allis on the subject of the Leucophasia, and the following is his report, 

 after seeing all my ten specimens, and comparing them with the two figures in the "Butterflies:" — 

 ■ 1st. — That all the specimens are British. 



2nd. — That they are all Sinapis. 



If I remember right, Mr. Dale expressly disavowed attaching any importance to the colour 

 of the tips being more or less dark. In fact, throughout his letters, he laid no stress whatever 

 o\\ that feature, but confined himself exclusively to the three points above mentioned. In a 

 later letter, too, he says, ''''Sinapis varies also, as well as Lathyri, in having more or less black 

 on the tip; but the c/t;'e/' difference is in the outline, and on the reverse side of 2d. wings," 

 Again, "There is a rotundity at the apex, which forms a specific distinction in Sinapis." 



Now I have shewn that several of my specimens, pronounced by Mr. Allis to be British, and 

 Sinapis, as they most unquestionably are, have the outside of the wings hollowed instead of 

 rounded, the distinction being really that, as remarked by Mr. Allis, between the male and 

 the female! not a "specific" distinction at all! 



I have only to add that I two or three times compared, before Mr. Allis, the specimen with 

 the figure, and he not only did not observe on any apparent difference between them, but pro- 

 nounced that they agree as closely as a figure can be e.Kpected to do with a specimen. In a letter 

 since received from, him, he says, "Whatever stress Mr. Dale may lay on colour, I consider 



