86 THE ENTOMOLOGtSf. 



well-known entomologists, who had heen interested in this question. 

 In the discussion which followed, Mr. South asked : (1 ) Did any 

 character exist by which the species could be separated with absolute 

 certainty? (2) Which was the commoner species? To the former no 

 answer was forthcoming ; but to the latter members agreed that 

 7'. cre/iiiscuUiria was very local, while 2\ Inundula) id was more common. 

 Mr. Barrett was of opionion that as a result of Mr. Hewett's paper all 

 distinctions between the two wore swept away. Mr. Tutt insisted that 

 the naming of tlie tsvo forms and the consideration of them as distinct, 

 although very closely allied, was a matter of convenience, necessitated 

 in our comparisons with continental and Asiatic representatives. 

 Messrs. Carpenter, Bacot, and others continued the discussion. 



Januanj 2,Hth. — The President in the chair. This was the Annual 

 Meeting, and devoted to receiving the Report of the Council, the read- 

 ing of the balance sheet, and the Address of the retiring President. 

 The Officers and Council elected for the ensuing year were : — Presi- 

 dent, R. Adkin, F.E.S. ; Vice-Presidents, R. South, F.E.S., and J. 

 W. Tutt, F.E.S. ; Hon. Treasurer, T. W. Hall, F.E.S. ; Hon. 

 Librarian, H. A. Sauze ; Hon. Curator, W. West (Greenwich) ; Hon. 

 Secretaries, Stanley Edwards, F.L.S., F.E.S., and Hy. J. Turner, 

 F.E.S.; Council, Messrs. C. G. Barrett, F.E.S., A. W. Dennis, 

 H. S. Fremlin, F.E.S., W. Mansbridge, F.E.S., A. W. Mera, 

 Hy. Tunaley, F.E.S., and Col. C. E. Partridge. Mr. South then 

 delivered his Address. After referring to the excellent position which 

 the Society still continued to maintain in membership and usefulness, 

 as well as in its finances, he pointed out various practical lines of study 

 which members of the Society might take up. He spoke of the extra- 

 ordinary mterest shown in natural history by the general public, as 

 evinced by the success of so many recent publications on the subject. 

 After enumerating the new additions to the British fauna, he remarked 

 on the growing interest taken by British entomologists in European 

 Lepidoptera. Jn reference to the study of variation, he considered 

 that more attention might be paid to the geographical distribution of 

 varieties. He stated that classification seemed to be in a state of 

 chaos, the several works recently issued on Lepidoptera differing very 

 materially in nomenclature and arrangement. 



Feln-uanj ll<//.—R. Adkin, Esq., F.E.S-, President, in the chair. 

 Mr. Barrett exhibited specimens of a species new to Britain, I'latyiitilin 

 Usseiadactylux, taken by Mr. de V. Kane in the West of Ireland; the 

 specimens were greyer than the usual German form. Mr. Routledge, 

 a tine var. of Didiit/uccia cunsperm, bred from Orkney ; it was generally 

 ochreous, the usually white markings being grey. Mr. Tutt, dead 

 laryas of Hepialus liijmlimis which had been attacked by a fungus ; 

 living larvas were also shown which had nibbled the dead ones. On 

 behalf of Mr. Fletcher, of Worthing, he exhibited a series of hybrid 

 Zyganiida^ from continental Z. ochscnheiincri and British Z. filipenduhe, 

 which hybrid race was perfectly fertile. Also, on behalf of Mr. Prince, 

 of Cheshire, a large box of common species, showing the local forms 

 and range of variation ; among these the Nyssia zvnaria was most in- 

 teresting for the variation in the transverse lines. And, on behalf of 

 Dr. Chapman, the living larva of Bryophila perla, showing its silken 

 gallery to which it retires during the day; it was noted that the 



