(Cilia P) 
ments on Araschnia levana made by G. Dorfmeister,* an account 
of which was published as far back as 1864, but a full résumé 
of them has been given by the late Prof. Th. Eimer.t 
From this I find that, although, as Weismann points out, 
Dorfmeister did not sueceed—apparently from not employing 
a low enough temperature—in transforming the prorsa-form 
into the Jevana-form, but obtained only some few of the 
intermediate form porima, yet he was apparently repeatedly 
successful in the important converse experiment (where 
Weismann’s results were almost negative), obtaining prorsw 
by means of warmth from the prorsa August brood. He 
further obtained numerous gradations of the intermediate 
form porima, stages which under natural conditions occur so 
rarely that, during forty years’ collecting, he met with only 
a Single specimen in the wild state in places where the forms 
levana and prors« were quite common. Dorfmeister was 
clearly the first to point out that temperature exercises its 
chief influence during the act of pupation or shortly after- 
wards, but he expressed his “ inability to decide whether the 
modifications obtained were the direct consequence of the 
rise in temperature, or only the indirect, depending on the 
shortening of the time of development caused by the in- 
creased temperature.” 
Familiar to all of us is the fine series of papers on 
temperature experiments contributed to our “‘ Transactions ”’ 
and ‘ Proceedings’’ to the ‘ Entomologist,’ and to the 
* Proceedings of the South London Entomological Society ”’ 
by our Secretary, Mr. F. Merrifield ; they are eight in number, 
the first having been published in 1888 and the last in 1897.4 
Mr. Merrifield’s earlier experiments were made with Geo- 
* ¢* Ueber der Einwirkung verschiedener wahrend der Entwickelungs- 
perioden angewendeter Warmegrade auf das Farbung und Zeichnung der 
Schmetterlinge.” (Mittheil. Naturw. Vereins fiir Steiermark, 1864.) 
+ ‘‘Entstehung der Arten auf Grund von Vererben erworbene Eigen- 
schaften nach der Gesetzen organischer Wiichsens,” 1888. (Engl. transl., 
by J. T. Cunningham, 1890, Sect. iv, pp. 131-134. I have to thank 
Mr. Merrifield for lending me this work. ) 
+ Fora most convenient précis and illustration of Mr. Merrifield’s work, 
by Dr. F. A. Dixey, see ‘‘ Nature,” vol. 57, pp. 184-188 (1897). 
