246 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



study of butterflies and to the preparation for publication of the results of 

 his investigations. His first contribution to the pages of the "Canadian 

 Entomologist" appeared in the third number of the first volume, October, 

 1S68, and his one hundred and seventieth in the 30th volume, January, 

 1898. During this period he also wrote a number of articles, chiefly 

 descriptive of butterflies, which appeared in the Proceedings and Trans- 

 actions of the American Entomological Society and " Papilio." His first 

 published work, "Voyage Up the Amazon," gave an account of a trip that 

 he made up the great river in iS l6, not long after he had left College; it 

 is a delightful record of visits to a number of places where the author 

 employed himself in collecting butterflies, birds and other interesting 

 objects, and is full of vivid descriptions of luxuriant tropical vegetation 

 and the strange creatures that make their abode in the forests and thickets. 

 So true is the narrative then written that the publishers, the Murrays, of 

 London, England, still continue to issue the book as the most reliable 

 guide for a naturalist exploring the river. It was first printed in 1847; 

 the edition before us is dated 1861, and there is still a steady sale of the 

 book. This is certainly a remarkable record for a description of travels 

 wriiten by a young man just out of college. 



His magnum opus, however, the work which will long continue as a 

 monument to his memory, is "The Butterflies of North America." In 

 April, 1868, the first part was issued and at once commended itself to 

 Entomologists everywhere by the exquisite beauty and finish of the plates 

 and their faithfulness to nature. In July, 1872, the first series, forming a 

 large quarto volume with fifty plates was completed. The second series, 

 containing fifty-one plates, was begun in May, 1874, but not finished until 

 November, 1884; the less frequent issue of the parts being more than 

 compensated for by the increased value of both plates and letterpress. 

 When the work was begun, as Mr. Edwards stated in his preface, little or 

 nothing was known of the eggs, larva? or chrysalids of any except a (ew of 

 the commonest butterflies, and accordingly his first volume illustrated 

 only the perfect state. In 1S70 he made the notable discovery that eggs 

 could be satisfactorily obtained by confining the female butterfly of any 

 species with the growing food-plant of its larva, and at once he began the 

 study of the life-histories of a number of species previously known only in 

 the imago state. Tlie results of these studies are admirably set forth in 

 the pages as well as on the plates of the second and third series; on these 

 are accurately depicted eggs and larvse in their different stages, as well as 

 chrysalids and imagoes. Many wonderful discoveries were made during 



