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ally entertained that the action of collectors had had a good 

 deal to do with such disappearances. That might or might 

 not be. Then there were certain butterflies that were 

 getting, year by year, more restricted in their range. One of 

 these was Melitcea cinxia. He thought it had disappeared 

 from its favourite places in the Undercliff of the Isle of 

 Wight, and that if it existed at all, it was only in some 

 of the woods more in the centre of the island. Whether 

 it existed on the mainland of the South of England, he 

 did not know, but he thought it did not. Mr. McLachlan then 

 referred to the case of Lyc<rna arion, which was, he said, 

 formerly common in the West of England, from Dorsetshire 

 to Devonshire, but was becoming rarer year by year. In 

 some localities the firing of the herbage had been a primary 

 cause of its disappearance. In others, he was inclined to 

 think that over-collecting had had a good deal to do with 

 its disappearance, and this opinion was supported by the 

 fact that where collecting had stopped, the insect was 

 again becoming more common. It was discovered, about 

 ten years ago, in Cornwall, and still existed there in 

 considerable numbers, although he heard it was becoming 

 rarer. One of the objects he had in bringing the matter 

 forward was to see whether some plan could not be devised 

 to xarotect local insects in their particular localities. He 

 was not one of those who believed in the absolute power 

 of man to exterminate species. But he did believe that in the 

 case of a local butterfly, five or six energetic collectors could 

 capture nearly every specimen on the wing on a particular 

 day. He thought some plan should be devised for checking 

 over-collecting. Fapilio machaon flourished in one or two of 

 the fens in the Eastern Counties, year by year, notwith- 

 standing the ravages made on it. Had it the same habits 

 here that it had on the Continent, it would have gone years 

 ago ; but in this country its larvie apparently fed on a plant 

 that only grew in these fens. But it was hard pushed, and 

 only required a bad season or two to extinguish it alto- 

 gether. He should hope to hear some remarks as to pro- 

 tecting the two species he had especially mentioned, viz. : 

 M. einxia and Lycmia arion. His idea was that one of the 



