170 



mischief would remain unchecked ; I think we ma}' even affirm 

 that it would grow the faster in proportion as the facilities for 

 cheap illustration were increased. The fight — at least as it is 

 presented to us in the existing controversy — is one between 

 scientific and picture-book entomolog}'. I yield to no one in my 

 admiration for picture-book entomology, especially when it is 

 of such a superb order as that of the illustrative portions of the 

 Etudes de Lépidoptérologie, verily things of beaut}' which I trust 

 the hand of Time, working through the subtleties of chemical 

 action, will allow entomologists to retain as " a jo}' for ever." 

 But I have always been taught that language, and not picture, 

 was the recognised medium for the conveyance of precise know- 

 ledge, and I protest against any attempt being made to under- 

 mine so vital a principle of science. 



At the risk of repetition I here interject that ideally we could 

 and probably should have perfect illustrations and perfect letter- 

 press accompanying the publication of every new species. Prob- 

 ably, as Mr. Oscar John points out in a thoughtful note,^ we 

 should gain something by being more exacting in our require- 

 ments, though not primarily along the lines advocated by M. 

 Oberthür, but rather by demanding " that every species to be 

 described should be thoroughly examined from every point of 

 view " ; and if the proposal before us had been to regard no name 

 as valid unless accompanied by a description of the venation, an- 

 tennal and leg structure, or other details which might be scheduled^ 

 I for one should have been loth to raise any opposition to it. 



The strong inference, however, is that dependence upon 

 figures would lessen, not increase, the care bestowed in other 

 and more important directions, and would encourage shpshod 

 work ; and actual experience shows that such an inference is 

 justified. In his delightful book Butterfly-Hunting in Manv Lands 

 (p. 7) Dr. LoNGSTAFF tclls us that many and man}- a time he 

 has thanked his stars that he was brought up on Stainton ^ 

 "rather than on the spoon-food of Newman,"^ and learned to 

 name his captures from descriptions instead of from figures, and 



^ Ent. Record, xxiii., 318-19. 

 2 Manual of British Butterflies and Moths. 



^ An Illustrated Natural History of British Butterflies ; An Illustrated 

 Natural History of British Moths. 



