( cxli ) 



species. The Lady's Slipper, perhaps the most charming of 

 our wild flowers, is on the verge of extinction, not only in 

 Great Britain but in many other countries on the Continent 

 of Europe. It may be incidentally remarked that its pro- 

 tection in Denmark owes its inception to a wealthy brewer, 

 who purchased the area where the plant grows, and presented 

 it to the State. If it still occurs in one or the other of the 

 situations in England where it is alleged to have formerly 

 been found, one can only hope that a similar fate may await 

 it in this country. At the meeting at Berne for the Inter- 

 national Protection of Nature, my friend, Mr. Charles Oberthiir, 

 of Eennes, pointed out that there were several European species 

 of butterflies whose protection was most desirable. Among 

 those that he mentioned are Erebia christi, found in a valley 

 south of the Simplon; Pleheius lycidas in the Simplon; and 

 Nemophila cervini from the Valais. Parnassius apollo has 

 already received protection in Germany. Its disappearance, 

 however, from at least one of the localities where it was formerly 

 found is due, not so much, if at all, to the collector, as to the 

 afforestation of the area. Now, had this area, a small one, 

 been made into a reserve with proper supervision, the result 

 mentioned above could not have obtained. In Hungary 

 several of the rarest species are in danger of destruction, 

 especially those which occur in the big plain. It is pleasing 

 to note that 400 acres of the great sandy plain close to Servia 

 have been reserved, and an effort is also being made to 

 preserve some seven acres in the well-known Puszta-Peszer. 



Turning now from Europe to the Tropics, some hesitation 

 may be felt as to the necessity of establishing reserves. The 

 Fellows of The Entomological Society of London should be 

 assured that there is an equal necessity here. In a country 

 like Ceylon, where the virgin forest of the lower altitudes is 

 decreasing at a rapid rate, the danger of the entire destruction 

 of the fauna and flora which are found in that portion of the 

 country which is below 4000 ft. is a very real one, and, with 

 its disappearance, many problems of the highest interest 

 could not be studied and properly solved. In Java, in the 

 neighbourhood of Buitenzorg, a considerable area of virgin 

 forest has been retained, and experiments carried on there by 



