64 Title r.xTo^ror.ocisT's rkcokd. 



This was all clelightfuUy cleav, and those who had invested their 

 gold in British '• Coppers " hreathed freely again, for it had heen 

 just recently asserted that a form, quite undifferentiable from British 

 ('. (lispar, had been found in the Pontine Marshes near Rome, and in 

 Egypt, and it is w^ell known — -such are the peculiarities of rare (and 

 even extinct) l^i-itish species — that the occurrence of the same foi-m 

 abroad would at once l)e accompanied with a great increase in tbr 

 number of bona-jhif British specimens. 



The latest disturbance, however, on the " Copper "' horizon was 

 started by ]\Ir. Betliune-liaker, who asserts that he has specimens of 

 var. nitiliis of undoubted British origin, captured in the Fens years 

 ago with the ordinary disjiar. Of course, this is, from a scientific 

 point of view, the most natural tiling possible, for there is no doubt 

 that all local forms of a species will occasionally turn up as chance 

 aberrations in all localities where the species occurs under other 

 variations. But it is unfortunate from the speculator's point of view, 

 for now lu> cannot insist that the var. nttilKs, which are occasionally 

 ottered for sale as British, are not in reality so. Two undoubted vai*. 

 rutilus were oft'ered for sale as British, in the auction rooms, and, we 

 l)elieve, purchased as such, on April 18th last. j\Ir, Jiaker's remarks 

 are quoted in cj-tniso in an earlier part of this paper. 



There are still some hundreds of ]>ritish i '. dis/iar in existence, 

 but every year lessens the number. Accident, and the falling of old 

 cabinets into a neglected condition, are the two main causes of the 

 reduced numljers. Hence the price of C. disjiar will always be on the 

 up-grade. When we commenced to collect, in 1871, no dealer's list 

 priced the finest ( '. ilis/hd- at more than 15s,, and anything over a 

 pound for a good specimen was looked upon as exorbitant. Slowly 

 and surely as the number of specimens has decreased, and the 

 number of buyers has increased, the price has steadily advanced. 

 It is in my mind that only one specimen has ever produced more than 

 i'7, this was at the sale of Mr. Tugwell's collection, when a specimen 

 went for £7 7s., but many have come near it ; whilst £5 5s. for a 

 really hue nuile, and £5 10s. for a. really tine female, can be looked 

 upon as ordinary market jn'ices. In the sale of the Burney collec- 

 tion, males touched £ti 10s. and £5 15s., whilst fenuiles reached 

 £() 10s., £(), and £5 15s. In the Fry collection, £0 15s., £G (is., and 

 £() per specimen were reaclu'd ; whilst a specimen in the Tugwell 

 collection went for £(>, and ;i female variety of ( '. ilispar in the 

 Howard Vaughan collection for £(> 10s. High as these prices are. 

 they are nothing to what may be exjjected in th(> not very distant 

 future, when " Coppei-s " may ])roduce figures more nearly approach 

 ing the prices that have been given for (ireat Auk's eggs. 



To anyone wlio can see the humorous side of things there is much 

 to l)e amused at when the sale of < '. dispar is on. Tbere is the pro- 

 fessional, who will give a coui)le of guineas for any specinum, in the 

 poorest condition, if pei'fi'Ct ; but who will not look at the most 

 l)rilliant e\aui[)lc if il has an antenna missing. He knows his 

 mai-ket, and he never l)uys the latter. Then there is the keen 

 amateur, who bides his time, watches the sale of the less imi)ortant 

 collections, and tells you be has a series of 10 or T2 specinu'us, for 

 which he has not paid nujre than £2 or £8 each, and which are (juite 

 as line and perfect as specimens which, in better known and better 



