242 tHE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



Doubs, examples being sbown from Paris, Caen, Besancon, Euglaud. 

 It was interesting to note the influence of the proximity of the Alps 

 in bringing the middle form to the Riviera, where the southern form 

 would, the Alps apart, have been a more likely form. Those from 

 Nice were almost more i'l/erides than egeria, when compared with 

 the representatives of these forms on the map, and must be within 

 the inlluences of crossing with Alpine races. The northern form, in 

 one of its types, is no doubt well known to most of our readers ; 

 the southern one varies somewhat from different localities. It has 

 comparatively little black marking, and the fulvous is so bright and 

 red that the superficial aspect of the specimens to a British eye is 

 much more that of F. metjaera $ than 7^. ef/eria. Mr. Bateson shows 

 a number of broods bred from crossing, of the extreme forms. There 

 are no doubt many points of interest to be elucidated from these when 

 fully studied. We noticed, for instance, in one or two broods a tendency 

 to increase the Vanessa-like angle to the fore-wing, of which P. cijcria 

 usually shows somewhat more indication than the mass of Satyrids. 

 The point that Mr. Bateson emphasises is that there is practically 

 no indication of discontinuous variation in the various broods. The 

 specimens may broadly be described as all falling within the limits of 

 the middle form, none tending to be either of the southern or northern 

 type, still less no tendency of any brood to divide into two groups. 



The other portion of Mr. Bateson's butterflies is more interesting. 

 These consist of numbers of broods showing the results of crossing I'ieris 

 napi of the Italian form with Pieris var. hryuniae. It is generally believed, 

 and is probably true, that hrijoniae is a single-brooded form. Mr. 

 Bateson, however, shows a summer brood of hryoniae, artificially 

 reared by him in England. These are like no forms of F. napi that 

 we remember to have seen, certainly, at least, not in quantity, as a 

 race. The most curious feature they have is a strong tendency to a 

 dark border, on the pattern of Colias. This same tendency crops up 

 in some of the crossed broods. The crosses, both between the two 

 forms and between either form and the crossed progeny, appear to be 

 quite fertile. Besides the number of unusual forms of F. napi which 

 they present, it is remarkable that some broods appear to be fairly 

 intermediate between the parent forms, whilst in others the specimens 

 are fairly spread throughout the interval between them, and in one 

 or two there is marked (Hscontimdty, one portion of the brood favoring 

 F. napi, the other, var. bn/oniae, but with few intermediate speci- 

 mens. These various results in crosses of the same forms are of 

 extreme interest, and we shall await with much expectation the full 

 details of the results when Mr. Bateson has secured and analysed the 

 material he is now accumulating. 



We had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Bateson's garden in which 

 these experiments are carried out, and admired the simplicity and 

 completeness of the arrangement for these experiments. He finds no 

 difficulty in getting the butterflies to pair and oviposit. The appa- 

 ratus consists of a box placed in the garden, open to the weather, and 

 covered with gauze. The box is about 30" x 18", and contains a 

 supply of flowers in a glass and of the food-plant growing in a pot. 

 Some shade is provided by a partial covering of canvas thrown loosely 

 over. Mr. Bateson has long ranges of these boxes and of pots of the 

 food-plants to which the insects may be removed and on which they 

 are sleeved after oviposition has been completed. 



