SeptemliLT — October iSSj. 



PSl'CHE. 



very large extent, large numbers of lar- 

 vae being actually dro-jj/wd b\- con- 

 tinued heavy rain, and others rendered 

 liable to disease, but a little evidence 

 has come under mv notice, pointing so 

 distinctly to another influence of equal 

 jjotencv. that I think it well worth 

 recording in detail." 



For many years previous to 1S7S 

 there had been little or no intense cold 

 in Pembrokeshire, owing to the pre- 

 <lominance '• through each winter of 

 winds from the soutlieast, south and 

 west, and especiallv the southwest, all 

 coming ofl" a sea kept constantlv warm 

 bv the gulf stream. In many places 

 fuchsias standing out of doors had never 

 been cut down by frost within the mem- 

 ory of the inhabitants." Some of these 

 plants liatl become trees five or six 

 metres high, with trunks of the size of 

 a man's leg. Plants usuallv grown in 

 greenhouses here flourished in the open 

 air. " During these yeans, very mam- 

 insects of general distribution [in Great 

 Britain] continued to lie either verv 

 scarce, or confined to exceedingh' 

 restricted localities in this district." 

 [Particulars gi\en.] ••Noc/nac (except 

 a few universally abundant .species) 

 appeared to be almost absent: such a 

 dearth of ordinary night-flying species 

 I never knew an\'vvhere before. 



" Rut in the winter of 1878. thcie 

 w'as a great change. Persistent north 

 or northeast winds, intensely cold, froze 

 everything up hard, the warm sea air 

 was completely expelled, or if a slight 

 change of wind permitted a few clouds 

 to come over, the rain from them was 

 nistanth' converted into ice. with wliich 



the high roads were coated to a thick- 

 ness of tliree or four inches [7.6 to 10.2 

 cm.], for \\ eeks. 



" The winters of 1S79 '"^'^ 1S80 were 

 equally cold, indeetl. the latter was said 

 to be the coldest known here for fifty 

 years, even the sea sands along the tide 

 line were covered ankle deep with ice 

 and frozen snow, a sight very rarely seen 

 I in this coast. The first of these three 

 winters [1S7S-1S79] killed all the 

 shrubb\- veronicas and some of the 

 simiachs, and the tree fuchsias and 

 myrtles above the ground. 



••And now I will give tlie results as 

 regards in.sects." 



Lepidoptera wiiich before were ex- 

 ceedingly rare became more and more 

 abtmdant in 1879, iSSo, and iSSi, until 

 in the last year they actually abounded. 

 Species previously restricted to a few 

 favorite spots spread all along the coast 

 or o\er the country. Many Geometrae 

 turned up whicli had hardh' been seen 

 before. 



•• Hut in Noctiiac. the improvement 

 was the most remarkable, as in tiiat 

 group the scarcity had been most 

 marked." [Mentions numerous spe- 

 cies which became abundant.] 



•■Here we seem to have a direct 

 example of cause and eflect. but 1 am 

 not prepared to say that the eflect al- 

 ways arises in the same wav. I think 

 there can be no doubt that in the case 

 f)f those insects, whose mode of life 

 includes the capacity foi hibernation, 

 their constitution is greatly strengthened 

 and their chance of arriving at maturity 

 increased, if the cold of winter is suffi- 

 ciently se\ere to induce complete tor- 



