328 THE entomologist's record. 



for all that I Two middle-aged men chatting yonder '? Yes ! mad on; 

 varieties l:)oth of them, the one nearest to ns gave fifteen pounds for a 

 variety of caia once. The elder of the three yonder ? Yes, a great 

 friend of mine. Probably come to buy some of the things back which 

 were sold in his OAvn collection years ago. Two rather short men ? 

 They are the main supporters of one of the London societies and the 

 dark haired good-natured looking fellow yonder does the same for an 

 opposition society. The men in 3'onder corner ? They're the pro- 

 fessional element. Buy on commission for some of our rich collectors. 

 That one probably has a commission from one of the Kothschilds." 



But the sale begins — A. cratccgt are worth money in spite of the 

 foreign influx ; P. daplidice, a pair including one from Mr. Button fetch 

 £2 12s. 6d., whilst another pair including one from Mr. Parry fetch 

 £1 7s. 6d., so they vary in price. It does not seem to matter who 

 captured latJionia, they fetch nearly a pound a pair, whilst antiopa 

 averages about £1 apiece, although a pair including one of Mr. Wigan's^ 

 goes for a pound. Then come C. dispar 18 specimens, which fetch £80, 

 the highest prices being, for males £6 10s., £5 15s., and £5, for 

 females £6 10s., £6, £5 15s., £5 5s., whilst the lowest price is £2 10s.,. 

 for an underside ; 40 P. acis produce £17 10s., whilst four vars. of 

 A. euphrosyne produce £3 15s., two others £5, a nearly black 

 M. athalia, £2 15s. ; two nearly black L. sibi/Ua, £1 15s. each, and a 

 banded L. megcera, £3. The rare Sphinges, considering the loads they 

 must be on the men's minds Avho buy them with all their doubts and 

 imperfections, fetch remarkable prices, the extreme point of reckless- 

 enthusiasm (Please forgive this expression of feeling. — Ed.) 

 being reached when £6 16s. 6d, is given for one, and £6 Gs. for a 

 second specimen of D. enpliorhice because they were reputed to have 

 come from Mr. Kaddon, a drop to £3 13s. 6d., the price given for a third, 

 being apparently the market appreciation between the veracity of the 

 latter gentleman and that of a Mr. Dewhirst. Then comes £1 15s. for a 

 lineata, and to cap this £2 2s. for two »S'. asilifonnis, one of which is the 

 Komney Marsh specimen. Whew ! What's that old proverb about the 

 parting of a certain class of peojDle and their money ? A little 

 variation on the appreciation of veracity occurs again with D.pidchellay 

 and then comes £10 for a black domhiula ; varieties of A. caia, A. villica, 

 &c. produce spirited competition, £4 15s. for two villica vars. and 

 £2 5s. for a caia being the highest prices ; L. ccenosa appears to be 

 valued at about 25s. per pair, and L. Uicifolia at £3 10s. for four. 

 Cleora viduaria produces three guineas for four, and I wonder whether 

 it was the one herbariata or the one osseata that produced £1. All the 

 lots Avith circellata went up very high, but Mr. Button's strigaria and 

 53 other specimens went for 6s. Fie ! you bidders, who give pounds,. 

 (£2 12s. 6d.) for Mr. Button's daplidice and Mr. Button's latlionia ; but 

 worse follows, for three of Mr. Button's purpuraria and three sacraria, 

 bred from eggs obtained from that gentleman, go for nine shillings. 

 How are the mighty fallen ! The four ononaria fetch a sovereign. 

 This allows a large margin for conscience as I suj^pose a genuine 

 British ononaria would be unique. Polygrammata go as high as £2 15s. 

 for four, whilst C. fluviata and lapidata fetch very little more than a 

 shilling each. D. sicula goes up to £1 for three, and D. hicttsjns £1 4s. 

 per pair ; but poor crenata has very shaky bona fides and gets down to 

 5s. for a specimen, probably about ten times the first cost. Under the' 



