286 [November, 



Of the above, Ps. quadrimaculatus and E. Briqgsi may be looked upon as the 

 best captures. But the latter will probably be found where looked for in the South 

 of England (and, perhaps, further north) in autumn and early winter. Mr. G-uer- 

 monprez, of Bognor, seemed to think it had some connection with N. American 

 poplar {cf. Ent. Mo. Mag., 1902, p. 288), so I requested Mr. Saunders to pay atten- 

 tion to the matter; the result was negative ; there was no poplar growing where he 

 found the insects amongst rubbish and fallen leaves generally. — Id. : October 

 nth, 1903. 



The Bptteeflies op Switzerland and the Alps of Central Europe: 

 by George Wheeler, M.A. Pp. vi and 102, 8vo. London : Elliott Stock, 1903. 



This very useful little book is intended for the evolutionary prototype of the 

 British butterfly collector of former days, who annually invades the " Al])s," much 

 to his advantage, instead of limiting his knowledge to the products of the Bi'itish 

 Islands only. It is not a scientific book, and does not pretend to be such. In the 

 larger divisions (such as PapilionidfP, Limenitid(e, and Satyrkl<^, &c.) no attempt is 

 made to give the essential structni'al charactei's on which such divisions are founded ; 

 nearly everything depends upon colour and markings ; in fact, the " descriptions " as 

 such, are mainly confined to varieties and aberrations, named, and in endless 

 quantity in some cases. We do not intend here to enlarge upon the necessity or 

 advisability of creating strings of such names, further than to remark that in the 

 cases of " aberrations " (often unique) the necessity seems more than doubtful ; and 

 in some cases an apparently paradoxical distinction is drawn, inasmuch as a 

 " variety " of a species in one locality may be nothing more than an " aberration " 

 in another. But the collector will gladly welcome the indications of local varia- 

 tions, and these are the main features of the book, which could not have been put 

 together save by the experience of a worker such as the Rev. Mr. Wheeler, to whom 

 the Alps and their butterfly productions are so familiar. The local information is 

 very full : in the genus Erehia (and we think there only) there is a summary of the 

 species indicated by altitudes. In a second edition, or extension, of the book, it 

 might be well to make the very ample index of localities still more useful by adding 

 the approximate altitude to each place named ; the difficulty of this, in the case of 

 mountains, passes, and valleys, could no doubt be surmounted by a little ingenuity. 

 There are no illustrations. 



#bituarn. 



Frederick Bates, F.E.S., a younger brother of H. W. Bates, F.E.S., " The 

 If aturalist on the Amazons," died at his residence at Chiswick on October 6th, after 

 a severe illness of several weeks' duration. He was born at Leicester on November 

 18th, 1829, and resided in or near that town until 1896 ; he was connected with a 

 brewery at Leicester, which was formed into a company of which he was managing 

 director until recently. Like his brother, his early taste for entomology exhibited 

 itself in the study of British beetles, but it is probable that other occupations gave 

 him too little time for a considerable period. Well on for 40 years ago he took up 

 the study of Ueteromera (especially Tenehrionidce) seriously, published many papers 



