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and even by Wallace ? As regards his own collections, Bates 

 himself tells us what became of them, and the reason of their 

 dispersal, in the following paragraph in his Preface to his 

 * Travels ' : — "It will be an occasion for regret to many 

 naturalists to learn that a complete set of the species has 

 nowhere been preserved, seeing that this would have formed 

 a fair illustration of the Fauna of a region not likely to be 

 explored again for the same purpose in our time. The limited 

 means of a private traveller do not admit of his keeping, for 

 a purely scientific end, a large collection. A considerable 

 number, from many of the consignments which arrived in 

 London from time to time, were chosen for the British 

 Museum, so that the largest set next to my own is contained 

 in our National Collection ; but this probably comprises less 

 than half the total number of species obtained. My very 

 complete private collection of insects of nearly all the Orders, 

 which was especially valuable as containing the various con- 

 necting varieties, ticketed with their exact localities for the 

 purpose of illustrating the formation of races, does not now 

 exist in its entirety, a few large groups having passed into 

 private hands in different parts of Europe." His private 

 collection of Diurnal Lepidoptera, upon which he bestowed 

 much attention during his travels, and to which he added 

 subsequently from every available source, passed, as I have 

 already said, into my hands many years ago. Bates then 

 concentrated his energies upon a close and comprehensive 

 study of the Geodephaga, the Lamellicornia, and the Longi- 

 cornia of the Coleoptera, and amassed large collections of 

 each. These, by his own arrangement and wish, passed, at 

 his death, into the possession of Mons. Rene Oberthilr, of 

 Eennes. When Mr. Salvin and I commenced an attempt to 

 gather together our scattered knowledge of the fauna and 

 flora of Mexico and Central America, Bates was one of our 

 most trusted advisers in planning the work. He hesitated 

 for some time before consenting to take an active part in it, 

 but eventually undertook the charge of the three groups of 

 Coleoptera in which he was an expert. Once having 

 commenced, he persevered with characteristic energy until 

 his task was completed. The Longicornia were begun in 



