OBITUARY. 347 



consult these pages, and even more valuable are the detailed records 

 of appearance. In this connection, one or two notices of Swiss species 

 are suggestive. The capture of Xo)niades iiieLanops, near Sion, by Mr. 

 Elwes, in 1887, is an interesting instance of interrupted distribution, 

 the nearest given locality to the Rhone valley being Digne ; or is it 

 to be supposed that, after all, N. melanopa is but a highly specialised 

 form of xY. cyllarus, w^hich occurs in the same region under precisely 

 similar conditions of time and place ? Then there is Melitaea 

 berisalemis, ranked as a variety of M. deione, but, unless it can be 

 proved that M. athalia and M. deione are one and the same species, 

 the mere wing-markings can hardly be accepted as a determination 

 one way or the other, especially if the larvte, as has been stated, are 

 practically indistinguishable. And is the form of Hipparchia aemele, 

 which occurs in the Alps, really var. arutaeus / If so, it would appear 

 that the remarkable tawny Corsican variety requires a new name. 

 Kane's Piedmont locality, too, for C'arterocephalus sylcius seems extraordi- 

 nary for what is usually regarded as a northern species altogether. In 

 observing also that Erebia epistygne must — at any rate, in some years — 

 produce a partial second-brood, Mr. Wheeler appears, like others, to 

 have been misled by a passage in Mrs. Nicholl's article on the butter- 

 flies of Digne. Our own experience, and we believe it to be the experience 

 of all entomologists, is that no Erebia has a second-brood, and that if 

 any E. epiatyiine have been observed in July, these should be regarded 

 as late stragglers of a retarded spring emergence. We have drawn 

 attention to these points, however, rather to show the thoroughness 

 which pervades Mr. Wheeler's work than to find fault. To those 

 who carry a net abroad, this handbook will be invaluable as a book of 

 reference, and in this spirit we can cordially recommend it to the 

 collector, whether he takes his entomology in the serious and proper 

 spirit of the observing naturalist, or is content to fill his cabinets rather 

 with pretty souvenirs of pleasant rambles than with material for study 

 and instruction. — H. Rowland-Beown. 



Frederick Bates, F.E.S., etc. — We announce with deep regret 

 the death of Mr. Frederick Bates, which took place at his residence, 

 417, High Road, Chiswick, on October 6th, in his 74th year. He was 

 born at Leicester on November 18th, 1829, and spent most of his life in 

 that town, or in the county, coming to London in November, 1896. He 

 was a successful brewer, and his business was turned into a limited 

 company, of which he was vice-chairman. He leaves a widow, three 

 sons and three daughters, many grandchildren, and one great grand- 

 child. . It is needless to remind our readers that he was a brother of 

 the late celebrated Henry Walter Bates, F.R.S., the originator of the 

 theory of Mimicry. In his earlier days he was an enthusiastic 

 collector of British coleoptera, much of his spare time being spent in 

 studying the fauna of his native county. Later he became an ardent 

 student of the Heteromera, doing much original work, and describing 

 many new genera and species. The magnificent collection he formed 

 of this family is now in the British Museum. For a time he took to 

 the study of the fresh-water alg£e, in which he became a master, but 

 unfortunately he had to give it up on account of the injury it was 



