AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



When my friend Dr. Bowdler Sharpe invited me to write the 

 Entomological part of the new " Naturalist's Library," the 

 question of the best arrangement to adopt, exercised me con- 

 siderably, in view of the large number of books on the more 

 popular orders of insects which are continually issuing from 

 the press. I had to try and invent a new scheme which was 

 likely to be useful both to beginners and to more advanced 

 Entomologists. 



In the old "Naturalist's Library" there was a volume of 

 British and a volume of foreign Butterflies, but I at once aban- 

 doned the idea of adding another to the host of books on 

 British Butterflies alone, while at the same time it was desir- 

 able to use the plates of the old " Jardine " series. I therefore 

 determined to combine these two volumes in such a manner as 

 to make the British Butterflies illustrate and lead up to a study 

 of the Butterflies of the World. I have also added as much 

 popular information, not always to be found in professedly 

 popular books, as I could reasonably introduce. To illustrate 

 the foreign Butterflies, a few new plates have been added, 

 chiefly representing recently described and hitherto unfigured 

 species. 



In the synonymy I have referred to the original description, 

 and at least one good old, or typical, figure of each species ; 

 and to the works of Stephens, Curtis, and Barrett for British 

 species, Kirby and Lang for European species, and Buckler 



