306 SOME ACCOUNT OF GLANflLLE's WOOTTON". 



afraid of mentioning, through fear of not being quite correct. They are all 

 scientifically arranged, according to the excellent classification of Mr. Curtis, 

 author of British Entomology (now fast approaching its completion), to whom 

 Mr. Dale has always been a trusty, true and valuable friend, despite the malig- 

 nant and narrow-minded opposition with which Mr. Curtis has been assailed. 



It would be an endless task to enumerate the rarities which enrich Mr. Dale's 

 cabinets. His brilliant discoveries in the genus Stylops are well known, and I 

 will only repeat what I said before, that any person, whether entomologist or 

 not, will, I am sure, receive a hearty welcome, and have the gratification of in- 

 specting the collection which he has been upwards of twenty years amas- 

 sing, and in the completion of which he has spared neither time, trouble, nor 

 expense. 



Mr. Dale's family is ancient. In earlier times they resided in the neighbour- 

 ing county of Hampshire, but for a considerable period in Dorsetshire. In front 

 of the house stands a very large evergreen Oak, now fast going to decay, which 

 is said to be one of the oldest and most remarkable trees of the kind in the king- 

 dom. 



The neighbourhood of Glanville's Wootton is well wooded, and an entomologist, 

 merely passing through it, would expect that it was a good locality for insects ; 

 but such is not the case ; Mr. Dale has had to travel far for most of his speci- 

 mens, and though he has well explored his own neighbourhood, yet he has met with 

 but indifferent success. He used to take Papilio machaon about twenty years 

 ago, on a rather " high and dry " hill, and elsewhere, but he has never seen it 

 since, which is very remarkable, as he did not take all the specimens he saw, 

 and the fly continues to appear every year in the fenny counties in which it is 

 found. On the Mintern or Telegraph Hills, near Glanville's Wootton, Whortle- 

 berries grow, on which Mr. Dale has taken Phytomeira cznea ; P. straminea 

 he has captured in his garden, and also Plusia, orichalcea, formerly abundant on 

 the Honey-suckle. Lyccena acis or L. cymon was at one time taken, in great 

 numbers, on the same hill with P. machaon, but is now only occasionally met 

 with, and in the low grounds. 



There is a Roman encampment in the vicinity of Mr. Dale's residence, with two 

 brick arches, which was, however, supposed to be of modern construction ; and 

 from the summit of the hill, near these antiquarian remains, there is a most 

 magnificent and extensive view. 



A very curious Snipe of an unknown species was shot some years ago near 

 Glanville's Wootton, and the Lesser Tern has been picked up dead. Mr. Dale 

 has a brood of Pheasants, of which only one now remains — " sola superstes " — 

 twelve years old, a female in the male's plumage. They used to come to the 

 windows every winter during the hard weather, toJ>e fed, and would perch on 

 the window seat, if you tapped on the glass. 



