34 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



his regrettably short life. His magnum opus was ' Butterflies 

 from China, Japan, and Corea,' a sumptuous work in three 

 volumes, which will probably remain the standard authority on 

 the subject for many years to come. 



At one time Mr. Leech possessed a very large collection of 

 Coleoptera. In 1889 or 1890, however, he decided to devote the 

 whole of his attention to the formation of a collection of Palse- 

 arctic and Eastern Asian Lepidoptera, and he then discarded the 

 beetles, and these passed into the museum at Tring. In amassing 

 the lepidopterous material from which his collection has been 

 built up he never for one moment allowed the matter of cost to 

 deter him from the attainment of his desires. Independent of 

 minor acquisitions of British Lepidoptera, he purchased several 

 continental collections, among which were those of G. d'Emmick 

 (Buda Pesth), Dolman (Denmark), M. Sand (Central France), 

 and Mlitzell (Berlin). The latter, for which somewhere about 

 one thousand pounds were paid, was well known for its fine 

 series, especially of Butterflies, Sphinges, and Bombyces, and the 

 very large number of aberrations comprised therein. Selections 

 of Amurland species were also obtained from Dieckman, and of 

 Central Asian Lepidoptera from Tancre and Grum-Grshimailo. 



The following chronological account of the various entomo- 

 logical expeditions personally undertaken by Mr. Leech, or 

 organised and equipped by him, will convey some idea of the 

 very thorough and comprehensive manner in which he carried 

 out any work that he took in hand : — 



In 1885 he, assisted by Mr. Meek, collected, with grand 

 results, in Morocco, Canary Isles, and Madeira. In 1886 he 

 commissioned Mr. Pratt to collect in North Syria, whilst he 

 himself started on a journey to Corea and Japan. Arriving at 

 Foochau, in Eastern China, about the beginning of April, he 

 secured the loan of a houseboat from a friend, and proceeded to 

 explore the Yuen-fu and Min rivers, and to investigate the insect 

 fauna of the adjacent country. From Foochau he went north to 

 the Snowy Valley, near Ningpo, a locality which had previously 

 been found rich in insect-life by the late W. B. Pryer. Here he 

 obtained accommodation in a Buddhist monastery, and stayed for 

 a week or so, instructing during the time a native, whom he left 

 to collect during the season ; he then continued his journey to 

 Japan. Nagasaki, in the southern island of Kiushiu, was the 

 first Japanese locality visited, and there Lepidoptera were found 

 abundantly wherever there was suitable—i. c. uncultivated- 

 ground. A small native-built vessel was obtained, in which he 

 visited the islands and parts of the western and southern coasts 

 of Kiushiu, collecting with the greatest diligence wherever there 

 seemed to be any prospect of success. Early in June he reached 

 J^usan Corea (but not in the native boat), where he was con- 

 siderably hampered in his movements on account of cholera, 



