84 [April, 1912. 



Professor Poulton has recorded instances of model and mimic 

 being taken in one sweep of the net, and has even found model and 

 mimic sent to him in one set of papers by a collector who, having 

 taken the two in the same place and day, had not noticed that they 

 were different species. I suggest that these scraps of independent 

 and unintentional evidence in direct support of these theories are 

 worthy of the serious consideration of those who regard mimicry as a 

 museum-manufactured phantom, but non-existent as a real phenomenon 

 in tropical life. 



The following experiment made by Mr. Moulton, January 2nd, 

 1912, forms an interesting supplement to his paper: — 



" I caught a male Danais (the specific name is illegible, but 

 is probably intended for eryx) in my dining-room and gave it 

 alive to a ' pig-tailed Macacm.'' The monkey first held the butterfly 

 by the folded wings, then opened the wings and pulled off the 

 abdomen, which he smelt, pulled to pieces, smelt again, tasted, 

 and threw down in evident and unmistakeable disgust. At the 

 same time he liberated the butterfly which he had been holding with 

 the other hand. The Danaine immediately flew away apparently 

 uninjured, except for the trifling loss of its abdomen ! I watched it 

 for quite a minute as it mounted high up into the air, and, after 

 hovering and gliding for some little time, flew easily away out of 

 sight into a patch of jungle near by. The experiment showed not 

 only the extreme distastefulness of the Danaine, but that the un- 

 pleasant quality resides in the body and has nothing to do with the 

 pigment or the wings, as has been sometimes suggested. It also 

 proved the extraordinary tenacity of life which is associated with the 

 special means of protection." 



The Sarawak Museum, Kuching : 

 December, 1911. 



