212 [February, 
most perfectly marked " Tiger Tim " conceivable ; and now when set, barely an 
inch in expanse from tip to tip, and about six lines from points of palpi to anal tuft. 
His wings, though perfect and marked according to custom, are scarcely in propor- 
tion to the body, although, when prepared for the cabinet, the little gentleman was 
five days old. There is no characteristic departure from the normal type to speak 
of, in the ladies. Should their eggs prove fertile, we should thus at once 
have before us the egg, the larva, the pupa, and the imago — three of them at 
unaccustomed periods — illustrating, during a humid and almost sunless season, a 
condition of insect life much nearer the equator. In this case it is unnecessary to 
observe that there was no " forcing" of any kind, the natural and the precocious 
larvcS having been reared together under precisely similar conditions of hght, at- 
mosphere, locality, parentage, and food-plant. It will be interesting to a high degree 
to discover which of these five influences is the most important agent in effecting the 
strange aberrations exemplified by this and other species. A slight attention to 
the science of optics in reference to Chromatology would persuade to the belief 
that "light " was an important agent in these variations. It would not be difBcnlt 
to prove "theoretically" that it was an all-sufficient cause. But, in these practical 
times, " demonstration " is gradually displacing " theory," and evidence is happily 
becoming more important than argument. In C. caja it is possible entomologists 
may have an easy opportunity of practically proving if light have or have not material 
influence on lepidopterous ornamentation. I venture to believe that I have, this 
past season, confirmed my previous impressions that it has ; and I am now repeat- 
ing my previous experiments on a larger scale, the results of which it will afford 
me gratification to be permitted to make known. Speaking generally, I feel con- 
vinced, from observations already made, that insects subjected during their growth 
and transformations to much light, would, as a rule, be darker ; and those reared 
in the shade lighter than the normal individual. I should feel very grateful for 
any communication, pro or con, from those who may have already reared conspicuous 
varieties, or who may be induced to do so. For instance, information relating to 
the condition of the breeding cage would be interesting , if covered in from, or 
capable of admitting much of, the solar light ; on what food-plant the larva chiefly 
fed ; if a captured specimen, the sort of soil from whence it came ; and any other 
circumstance contributing, in the estimation of the writer, to the result in 
question. 
In conclusion I may describe a most singular var. of C. caja, I have had the 
good fortune to add to my series this season ; a wild g captured last July at 
Woodford, in Essex ; and which, from information kindly forwarded by Mr. Double- 
day and other authorities, may be considered almost unique. Let my readers figure 
to themselves a male of the average size ; the thorax and body of the common type; 
the superior wings entirely cream-white ; the lower wings rosy-crimson, with all 
the usual blue-black markings orange-yellow, except in the upper semi-lunar spot of 
the right lower-wing, in the midst of which is visible a blue-black atom, formed by 
about seven of the scales still retaining their accustomed tint ; and it will be 
scarcely possible to imagine a greater sacrifice of " pigmentum nigrum.," short of its 
utter annihilation. It would be most interesting to know the conditions under 
which this extraordinary example was produced. Surely something more than 
locality and food-plant was at work ! — Ed. Hofley, 14, South Bank, Regent's Park, 
October 30th, 1866. 
