irUTHKK NOTK ON I'KKoNKA iKlSTANA XV.. (.LMPINANA. 115 



available, one seeks in vain for a complete series of the old magazines 

 — Fuessly's Manazin, Loudon's Mo;iazi)ie, Annalu anfl Ma<fazinf of 

 Xatiiral History (early series), the LAnnaea Entomoloiiica, etc. — nor is 

 any real attempt made to add those modern works produced in America 

 and on the Continent that the average entomologist may be supposed 

 not to know. One would assume that when the sale of an important 

 library was about to take place, the library committees of our natural 

 history societies would attempt to make really useful additions to the 

 collections under their charge, but this appears not to be so. One 

 surmises that the wealthiest entomologists of to-day are far wealthier 

 than the wealthiest of 50 to 100 years ago, and that the poorer are 

 much less poor than the poorest then, yet there are far fewer even fair 

 entomological libraries in the houses of entomologists nowadays, apart 

 from the few really tirst-class ones still in existence. The general 

 principle of never buying what you can "possibly borrow has evidently 

 become a part of the unwritten code of a great part of the large section of 

 that " nation of shopkeepers" that does not keep shops, and this really 

 seems to be, quite as much as want of intellectual capacity, one of the 

 reasons why there are so few really good collections of first-class 

 entomological works in this country, and, hence, one's regret is all the 

 keener when a large and excellent library, that has been years in the 

 making, is broken up, and its best treasures find their way into dealers' 

 hands, and ultimately, in many cases, are bought up by the big 

 libraries of America and the Continent, and no longer remain a part 

 of the scientific wealth of what is still by far the richest country of 

 the world, which allows itself apathetically to be despoiled by the 

 fresher and more active leaders of the intellectual life of advancing 

 foreign lands. We still maintain the high standard of our private 

 entomological collections ; we must not allow the contents of our 

 hitherto unrivalled entomological libraries to pass out of our hands. 



Further Note on Peronea cristana ab. gumpinana. 



By J. A. CLARK, F.E.S. 

 In the Hnt. Fu-roril, xiii., p. 289, I describe a form of Peronea 

 rristaito, under the name of ab. iitnnpiaiia. I had at the time, as I 

 thought, examined all available sources in which an early description 

 had possibly been made, but strangely enough quite overlooked a note, 

 published by Mr. Dale [Kntoin., xxxiii., pp. 179-1(S0), whilst I was work- 

 ing out my own paper. In a recent letter from Mr. Dale, however, that 

 gentleman points out to me his own note, and also gives me the 

 reference to the original description of this aberration, which, by-the- 

 bye, was not named (jiiinpiana, bat iiiuupinana. In 1812, in the 

 Annah ami ^[a!|a:ine of Xatnral Histori/, x., pp. 865-6, is an article 

 signed under the pseudonym of " Capucina," communicated by 

 J. Curtis, F.E.S. It is well known [tt'ste Stephens. Humphreys and West- 

 wood) that "Capucina" was the pseudonym of the Kev. W. Johnson, 

 but I may add that there is nothing in the index to show^ that this was 

 so, nor is there any reference in the index to the article in question, 

 and that must be my explanation for the statement on p. 299, where 

 I say that 1 am unable to find it. Reference to the article shows that 

 not only did " Capucina " name ninnpinana, but also ntrirristana and 

 capnrina (to which reference (without page) is corre:3tly made in my 



