¢ xh j 
water in different states of condensation. This was substan- 
tially the theory first put forward by Lord Walsingham, and 
he (Prof. Meldola) had already expressed his concurrence 
therewith. 
Mr. White asked whether Mr. Merrifield had observed that 
a variation in the colour of the moth was associated with 
any corresponding variation in the colour of the larva. 
Mr. Merrifield said the larva of illustraria varied much in 
colour. The summer-feeding larva was brighter and had more 
variety in colour than the autumn-feeding brood, which are 
of a more uniform and duller tint, a shining grey-brown, 
looking very like a knotty ash-twig. He had not observed 
any connexion between the colour of the larva and that of 
the moth. 
Dr. Sharp said he thought the experiments described were 
very interesting, and he hoped they would be continued and 
followed up by others in different directions. 
Mr. J. H. Leech read a paper ‘‘On a Collection of Lepi- 
doptera from Kiukiang.” He said the collection had been 
made for him during the months of April, May, June and 
July, 1887, by Mr. A. E. Pratt, in the neighbourhood of 
Kiukiang, which was situated on the Yangzee river, about 
500 miles from the sea. Mr. Leech remarked that the 
collection was not rich in species, and probably only repre- 
sented a third part of the lepidopterous fauna of the district ; 
it, however, contained a fair proportion of new species, and 
also many that had not hitherto been recorded from that 
region. It was stated that the larger proportion of species 
were common to the eastern coast of China and Japan, but 
that many occurred also in the Himalayas. The chief point 
of interest in the collection was the variation exhibited in so 
many species, especially in Papilio sarpedon. 
Mr. Elwes said he had examined the collection with great 
interest, and was much struck with the similarity of many 
of the forms to those from Sikkim. 
