82 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



persons who never saw several of the described species, or have their 

 knowledge at second hand, and on the strength of this pronounce 

 judicially on the American Argynnides ! One of my correspondents, a 

 lepidopterist, not a mere collector, on reading the paper in Psyche, wrote 

 me thus : " It is an amazing piece of presumption for a visitor to America 

 to collect and buy a lot of specimens, and on the strength of that to de- 

 nounce and try to overthrow the work of yourself and Scudder, who have 

 been studying the butterflies for more than a quarter of a century, and must 

 know a thousand times more about them than he*possibly can." And 

 another correspondent, of same character, says : " I think it a pity for a 

 man to write on such a subject, unless he can throw some light on it." 



Mr. Elwes gives the impression that he had studied the important col- 

 lections of the country, but he never saw mine, nor that of Mr. Bruce 

 (rich in the Colorado species), nor that of the American Entomological 

 Society in Philadelphia, nor any collection on the Atlantic slope except 

 Dr. Holland's, Mr. Neumoegen's, Mr. H. Edwards's and Mr. Strecker's. 

 On the Pacific, those that he could have seen were local and small. It 

 is known that I have sold my collection to Dr. Holland, but at the time 

 Mr. Elwes visited Pittsburgh, the greater part of the rarer and less known 

 Argynnides, and particularly those that have so perplexed this gentleman, 

 had not been delivered. At Mr. Neumoegen's he scarcely glanced at the 

 group, but gave all his time to the East Indian butterflies. He says him- 

 self that he "went through" Mr. Edwards' collection, but, as Mr. Edwards 

 has not returned from Australia, I cannot learn at what pace, though I 

 can imagine it. But he spent considerable time at Reading, and Mr. 

 Strecker tells his friends that " he took copious notes," and that he " gave 

 him many points." The paper shows as much. 



I had cordially invited Mr. Elwes to visit me and inspect the Argyn- 

 nides, but not finding himself able to come, he failed to see the most com- 

 plete collection in the group treated of ever brought together, containing 

 not only the types of all the species I had described, but every one of Dr. 

 Boisduval's types of Californian species : in other words, of nearly every 

 species described since 1852. Of the two species described by Mr. H. 

 Edwards, and the four by Dr. Behr, I have examples named by them, 

 and in most cases long suites, with all the varieties which during thirty 

 years I had been able to bring together. 



