1GG THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF 



no means rare. In this Report instances of great variation in species 

 have been given, and hundreds of others might be cited.* 



Mr. Bennett furthermore, as Mr. Wallace subsequently pointed 

 out.f fails to take into consideration the fact that each butterfly 

 produces not only one, but numerous offspring, that the right varia- 

 tion has, by the hypothesis which he combats, a greater chance of 

 surviving than the rest, and that at each succeeding generation, the 

 influence of heredity becomes more and more powerful, causing the 

 chance of the right variation to become greater and greater. He also- 

 appears to forget that this imitation in butterflies is of comparatively 

 rare occurrence, and that the mimickers generally belong to genera 

 which naturally show a tendency to depart from the normal coloring 

 of their own family and to approach that of the mimicked, so that the 

 first steps are greatly facilitated. I consider therefore that the math- 

 ematical objection utterly falls to the ground ; but that there is some- 

 thing in the closing ideas which Mr. Bennett throws out, which may 

 yet lead to important discoveries, I can very well conceive. Indeed? 

 it must be rash to deny some such influence as he describes when we 

 reflect upon the extraordinary power which the mind of the mother ex- 

 erts, during pregnancy, on her offspring; and when we I urther consider 

 that Mr. Wallace himself admits that man's present mental and physi- 

 cal condition co.uld not have been brought about by natural selection, 

 alone. It must be obvious to every one, however, that such an admis- 

 sion is no argument against the theory of Natural Selection. All oth- 

 er modifying influences though they may lessen her potency simply 

 assist her in her grand work. 



The next objector we find in Mr. Saml. II. Scudder of Boston,. 

 Mass.. I who, while admitting that there can be no possible doubt of 

 the fact of mimicry, questions its advantage among butterflies, since 

 the greatest destruction occurs in their preparatory states. But as- 

 he refers especially to the two butterflies w r e have been treating of 

 and as from the context it appears that he is also aware of the exis- 

 tence of some of the parasites which I have described, I will quote 

 the greater portion of his letter which was written from Cairo, Egypt, 

 under date of November 9th, 1870; and, will afterwards reply to his 

 objections : 



" But of how much actual benefit to the mimetic species is this so-called "protective" resenir- 

 blance? It seems to occur where it can be of the least possible advantage to the species. The great 

 sources of destruction here, as in all groups of animals, are in early life. How large a proportion 

 of the eggs that are laid by butterflies ever finally produce imagines ? Let those answer who have 

 attempted to follow their history in their native haunts. My experience leads me to believe that 

 at the very least, nine-tenths — perhaps ninety-nine hundredths — never reach maturity. Hymen op- 



*A most remarkable case came under my notice the past summer. From a single batch of 

 flattened and ribbed eggs, overlapping each other under a piece of Hickory bark, I succeeded in 

 raising eighteen imagines of Catoeala phclungca, Guen. The upper wings vary greatly in the indi- 

 viduals, and in one specimen the ground-color and markings are so very aberrant, that there is more 

 difference between it and some of the others belonging to the- same batch, than there is between ths- 

 latter and a dozen distinct species. 



fNature, 111, p. 49. 



%Ibid, Vol. Ill, p. 147. 



