COLLECTION OF FOREIGN LEPIDOPTERA. 109 



several entomologists, I gradually devoted my attention lo 

 British Lepidoptera almost exclusively, not, in the first 

 instance, from any special predilection, but because my 

 friends neither cai'ed for nor could give me any help with the 

 other orders, nor could I obtain the books required to lielp 

 me to work them out without other assistance. Having thus 

 acquired an elementary acquaintance with British Lepi- 

 doptera, I removed to London, where, finding both collections 

 and libraries withi^ my reach, I determined to apply myself 

 lo the study of European Lepidoptera, then wholly neglected 

 in England ; and at the same time considerably extended my 

 acquaintance with foreign Lepidoptera also. Since then I 

 have had the entou)ological collection of the Royal Dublin 

 Society (perhaps the third best public collection in the 

 kingdom, those of the British Museum, in London, and the 

 Hope Museum, at Oxford, being incontestibly the two first) 

 under my charge for some years, which has added much to 

 my experience. As it is not very easy for beginners com- 

 mencing the study of European or Exotic Lepidoptera to 

 acquire much practical information respecting them, in 

 consequence of the want of good introductory books, and the 

 very scattered form in which much of the literature of the 

 subject is published, I thought that a few papers, pointing 

 out the best means of forming a collection, the most useful 

 books, &c., and giving a general account of the principal 

 families of Lepidoptera, might not be uninteresting to some, 

 at least, of the readers of the ' Entomologist.' 



The L^epidoptera are so large an order, comprising at 

 present at least 30,000 or 40,000 described species, that 

 few can afford time, money, or cabinet room, to attempt to 

 form a collection of the whole. Perhaps it is better to begin 

 by collecting all that you have an opportunity of obtaining, 

 until you have formed a preference for some particular group, 

 and then to devote your attention exclusively to that ; or, 

 you may confine your attention to the productions of one 

 particular country, either because you feel a special interest 

 in it, or because you have opportunities of obtaining specimens 

 from thence. Many British Le])idopterists form collections of 

 Continental L^epidoptera for the purpose of comparison, and 

 in this case it is of the utmost importance to obtain correctly- 

 named tyjjes. Other entomologists may like to form a 



