( xiii ) 



The observation remains an interesting one, and I have 

 thought it worth while, even at some risk of being tedious, 

 to try to clear up the misapprehension that has surrounded it. 



Note. — Sir George Hampson has kindly informed me that 

 the true Bugong is probably Euxoa infiisa, Boisd., one or 

 two of the common allied species being very likely included 

 under the same native name, E. porphyricolUs, Guen., seems 

 to suit Mr. Bennett's description fairly well, (See Sir G. 

 Hampson's "Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phakente in the 

 British Museum," vol. iv, 1903, p. 165.) 



Commander J. J. Walker said the moth was an Agrotid 

 {Agrotis sjnna) generally distributed over New South Wales and 

 Victoria. It was perfectly true that the natives collected 

 those insects for food. 1900 was a good Bugon year, but 

 last November very few were met with. As to the nutritive 

 qualities of the species, he said that the deck of h.m.s. 

 " Ringarooma " in which he was at the time serving was much 

 stained with oleaginous matter from crushed specimens which 

 came aboard in great numbers. 



Mr. C 0. Waterhouse said the specimens in the British 

 Museum rather resembled Mamestra brassicse. 



Discussion. 



The Rev. F, 1). Moricb opened the discussion upon 

 " What is a species?" He said that he had originally chosen 

 this subject without knowing that it would be dealt with in 

 the Presidential Address. That Address made it needless to 

 touch on many points which must otherwise have been raised. 



He did not think that the word " Species " need be or had 

 better be dropped because we had generally abandoned the 

 Linnean conception of a species. In all branches of science 

 old words come to be used in new senses as knowledge 

 advances and errors are exploded. We need not be too timid 

 about the ghosts of old meanings. Astronomers still talk of 

 •' planets" ; J. S. Mill re-defined Genera and Species in logic ; 

 and zoologists may claim a similar liberty. 



The speaker thought that he pei-sonally meant by "a 

 species " something like this — a group (the largest he could 

 bring together) of forms so similar as to suggest descent from 



