126 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



having one's insects covered with these innumerable specks. 

 The kind mentioned by Miss Sotheb}' must certainly be better 

 than the lumps as supplied from Germany, and which I complain 

 of. The pure crystals are much more expensive, but in the end 

 I think the dearest the cheapest. — Edward Cooke ; 30, Museum 

 Street, London, W.C., March 7, 1885. 



Exchanging. — In marking his lists a beginner will, of course, 

 start by marking the names of those insects which he has 

 obtained, and leaving unmarked those which he does not possess. 

 At first the blanks will j)reponderate : in the course of time the 

 number of species marked and the number of blanks will become 

 equal, while afterwards the blanks will go on decreasing. It is 

 this state of our lists that Mr. Eaynor objects to. But what 

 would he have ? Either we must all begin again a new list, as 

 soon as the old one is half-full, or we must start at first by 

 marking every species, and scratch each mark out as we acquire 

 it. I venture to think that the former plan would be productive 

 of much greater waste of time to the writer, and the latter of 

 much greater confusion to the reader, than the present system. 

 Moreover, I do not see how the reader wastes more time in 

 looking for the blank spaces, as now, than he would in looking 

 for the marks. Secondly, as to the giving away of insects. In 

 former times, I take it, the number of first-class collectors in 

 England might be counted on the fingers, while the total number 

 must have been very small, and all who collected then did so 

 for the love of the pursuit and not for greed or gain. There was 

 no system of exchange as now, — there was neither scope nor 

 reason for it ; but, rather than throw away or destroy superfluous 

 specimens, the richer collectors would give them to those who 

 had them not, and thereby lend encouragement to the study. 

 Now, thanks to the impulse given to Entomology, in the first 

 instance by the works of Messrs. Stainton and Newman, and 

 regularly sustained since, there is quite an army of entomologists 

 in the United Kingdom, dealers as well as amateurs. Scope has 

 thus been found for exchange, and a regular system introduced. 

 At the present day promiscuous giving would be somewhat 

 invidious : there are so many willing recipients of gifts. Besides 

 this, the number of dealers renders it comparatively easy to 

 obtain, at all events, types of any species we may require. I do 

 not say that no giving takes place among friends ; and there is 



