296 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



dark forms was valued at £2 17s. 6d. The best of the light, £2 5s. 

 The whole series brought in £28 10s. The 40-drawer Gurney cabinet 

 sold for 30 guineas. The total result of the sale was about £280. 



The concluding portion of the collection sold on November 5th, 

 consisted of the Noctuides, Deltoides, Pyralides, and a few Tortricides, 

 with the remaining aberrations of Abraxas grossulariata. The attend- 

 ance at the sale-room was as large and as enthusiastic as on the 

 former occasion, and it was again quite evident that the attraction 

 centred round the " Magpies." But few of the lots of the Noctuids, etc., 

 brought enough to pay for the labour and time of setting ; only where 

 there happened to be included a striking variety or a rarity did the 

 bids reach a second figure in shillings. Among the Noctuids we may 

 mention two bred examples of C. xerampelina ab. unicolor, which 

 were bought at 18s. apiece. Including the magnificent forty-drawer 

 Longley Cabinet, which realised 27 guineas, the whole receipts, 

 exclusive of the " magpies," were £103 18s. 6d. Sixteen specimens 

 of Stenoptilia graphodactyla, in lots of four, brought 12s., 10s., 13s., 

 13s., while two specimens of Newman's black Ennomos autumnaria 

 were disposed of for £1 4s. each. When the lesser things had been 

 disposed of, the room settled down to business, and perhaps one of 

 the most exciting periods in the history of sales of lepidoptera 

 commenced. We have already noticed in our remarks on the first 

 portion of this collection, the wonderful prices which were paid for 

 the choicer aberrations of A. grossularmta, and, after all, it would 

 appear that these had been fairly divided into two portions, arranged 

 according to their presumed value. On the first occasion, 96 speci- 

 mens brought in £88 10s., on this, 76 brought £108 lis. 6d. The 

 writer still feels, however, that the most was not made of some of the 

 insects first put up, but, in the end, the seller in spite of this, had 

 reason to congratulate himself upon the prices obtained. Although 

 five specimens in one lot were valued at less than 2s. 6d. each, only 

 22 went for less than £1 each. The first great event was the sale of 

 the beautiful ab. ehalcobares, almost certainly unique,. which went for 

 £6. Then three ab. lutea were brought up from 10s. to £1 5s. each. 

 Amagnilicent male ab. melanozona reached £6 10s. The ab. nigrosparsata 

 did not appear, curiously enough, to appeal much to the buyers, but a 

 fine female specimen brought £1 15s. Ab. varleyata, so rarely seen in 

 the auction-room, realised from £1 10s. to £4 10s. each. Ab. chalcozona 

 was bought at from £2 to £3 3s. per specimen. The ab. axantha, in pairs, 

 £1 5s. to £1 10s. Five lots of ab. jiavofasciata (lacticolor), in pairs, 

 £3 to £3 3s. Single specimens of the same aberration brought from 

 £1 5s. to £5 15s. Ab. lutea-lacticolor from £1 8s. to £3 per specimen. 



The whole day's sale amounted to £212 10s., of which £109 was 

 paid for " Magpies." The total proceeds of the sale appear to have 

 reached about £487, of which nearly £200 was paid for the "Magpie " 

 aberrations. 



This result must be most gratifying to Mr. Eaynor, whose patient 

 work, carried out as a scientific observation, has met with so 

 substantial a reward. 



It is interesting to note that, so far as is known, the highest 

 amount previously realised from the sale of aberrations of a single species 

 was £120 for Arctia caja at Dr. Harper's sale. The surpassing beauty 

 and superb condition of the majority of the specimens offered account 

 in a large degree for the unparalleled prices attained at the present 



