OBITUARY. 125 



in its old habitat among the beds of Mi/rica ijale, but his efforts in 

 that direction were not crowned with success. I believe him to be the 

 only collector who has taken Ihulcna atriplicia quite recently — it 

 would not be altogether surprising if that species were now to become 

 extinct. He used to warm with enthusiasm over his tales of the 

 golden days when LacUa coenom, and other species, now, alas ! all too 

 scarce, if not altogether extinct, were not unfrequently taken. His 

 regret for those happy days made him most careful to preserve on 

 every possible occasion the food-plants of scarce or local species. In 

 this, as in many other respects, I, in common with many other ento- 

 mologists, shall have cause for missing him sadly. — J. C. Moberly, M.A. 



JAMES B. HODCtKINSON, F.E.S. 

 Born Oct. 27th, 1823, Died Feb. 17th, 1897. 

 James B. Hodgkinson was born at Preston, but when only four 

 years of age, his parents removed to Carlisle. At fourteen, he 

 returned to Preston, where he served seven years' apprenticeship as a 

 mechanic, although, for two years previous to his apprenticeship, he 

 had worked as a boy in a mill, from 5.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., at 2s. 6d. 

 per week. Even then his love of collecting had commenced, and on 

 Saturday and Sunday he would walk to Keswick and back to catch 

 butterflies and moths. An early meeting with Wailes (Newcastle) 

 and Hancock was said by Hodgkinson to have been the origin of his 

 entomological tastes, and, at 19, he gave a lecture at the Mechanics' 

 Institute, at Preston, on "Entomology." From Preston he removed 

 to Manchester, Avhere he had free access to Sam Carter's collection, 

 and obtained such insects as Litlutmia suUdayinis and Oporahia polata 

 (fiUyrcunmaria). Of the latter insect, he states that he once took 

 forty-two in a short time, on stones in a stream, when the stone walla 

 were unproductive. He was also one of the first entomologists to obtain 

 Nyssia zonaria at New Brighton, Avhilst he always insisted that he was 

 the first captor of Cidaria recticulata, Hijdroecia petasitis and Aplecta 

 occulta in England. He relates that on one occasion, "old Weaver" 

 called on him when he (H.) had a number of Htjdrelia uncana in dupli- 

 cate, and Weaver then offered him Anarta vidua (inelannpa) in exchange, 

 the //. uncana being valued at 6d., the A. vidua at 7/6 each, so he says 

 " the exchange did not come off." He only saw Weaver once after 

 this, and then he was " hiding behind a tree in the Black Forest, 

 Bannock." He claimed acquaintance at this time with E. Sheppard, 

 Bond, Bentley, S. Stevens, Bouchard and Waring. He visited B. 

 and J. Standish, and once visited J. Jenner Weir. Of Desvignes, he 

 had a lively recollection, for the latter gave him a number of Pyralides 

 and other insects, which he took at W^hittlebury Forest. He also 

 knew Bedell, Stainton, Douglas, Ingall, Robertson (and his man 

 Hindley). About that time, too, he relates that he once walked into 

 the West India Docks with a box of insects under his arm, and when 

 he was coming out again, the box was examined. At the time, he 

 asserted, there was a duty on foreign insects, and had it not been that 

 one of the men knew something of British insects, he would have had 

 to pay duty on the specimens, or they would have been forfeited. 



Hodgkinson was not a collector pure and simple, although it 

 was his wish to obtain fine specimens and to find new species that 

 led him to add many facts to our knowledge of the life-histories of the 



