64 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 
THe Australian Commonwealth requires for service in Papua a 
fully qualified entomologist with practical knowledge of the diseases 
affecting Coconuts and Para Rubber. 
THe NATURALIST AT THE FRoNT.—The following letter was 
received by an entomological friend last July when the writer was in 
the trenches, apparently in north-eastern France in the department of 
Nord, Pas de Calais, or Somme. The first and last of these depart- 
ments have a rich lepidopterous fauna; probably also the Pas de 
Calais, though, curiously enough in view of its proximity to England, 
it appears to have been little worked, and there is no recent account 
of the local lepidoptera as a whole. French entomology generally is 
of great interest, and it is a pleasure to those of us who perforce 
remain at home to know that, amid the grim realities of war, the 
mind of the young soldier finds relaxation in the observation, and 
even the collection, of naturaihistory objects. I mayadd that the officer 
commanding a distinguished London Territorialregiment last summer 
gave me a cordial invitation to his quarters in the firing line—at that 
time described by him as the haunt of innumerable Chalk Hill Blues 
—probably somewhere on the chalk hills of the Upper Somme.— 
H. R.-B. 
“France, July 27th, 1915. 
“The parts of France and Belgium where we were until a short 
time ago were exceedingly poor collecting grounds, but now we are 
nearly eighty miles south of there, by means of train and ‘frogging’ 
it. The wood we are now camping out in is fine ground for all sorts 
of insects. The wood itself grows on a long ridge and the slopes are 
covered with a fine growth of wild flowers, mainly hairy St. John’s 
wort, musk mallow, and nettle-leaved bellflower. There is not 
much here, however, except a few Red Admirals and Painted Ladies. 
It is just on the outskirts of the wood, on the hedges of bramble 
dividing it from the lucerne and cornfields that you see such a 
number of flies. First and foremost everywhere in such situations 
is the Silver Washed Fritillary, a close second is the Ringlet, but 
both of these are apparently nearly over, as they are practically all 
battered to pieces. JI saw one specimen of the var. valesina and 
actually knocked it down, but unfortunately could not find it after- 
wards. I was more fortunate with the other good thing I saw, and 
that was the Purple Emperor in fine condition. I have him packed 
up now in a box with other specimens waiting an opportunity to 
despatch. How did the first consignment of galatea arrive, by the 
way ? 
‘ I had my doubts about the safety of such packing, and I certainly 
should not care to trust my iris to the tender mercies of the can- 
celling stamp. The lucerne fields I mentioned before are absolutely 
swarming with the Latticed Heath, rather a common thing, but I 
fancy rather local, so I will enclose one or two specimens with the 
rest. I have seen two of those huge green grasshoppers of which 
you mounted one specimen. I had forgotten that the blighters bite 
like h—l, but the first one I picked up didn’t forget to remind me 
