( 241 ) 



IX. Note on "A Catalogue of the described Diurnal 

 Lepidoptera of Australia, by Mr. George Masters, 

 of the Sydney MuseumJ" By W, H. MiSKlN. 



[Read 1st December, 1873.] 



The following remarks are suggested by the appearance 

 of " A Catalogue of the described Diurnal Lepidoptera of 

 Australia, by Mr. Geo. Masters, of the Sydney Museum." 



Mr. Masters, in his prefatory remarks, adnaits that his 

 Catalogue is chiefly compiled from Kirby's Catalogue of 

 Diurnal Lepidoptera ; to me the Catalogue appears, with 

 one or two exceptions, simply an extract from that well- 

 known work, and is certainly far, very far, fi-om being 

 what it purports to be, i. e., a correct or complete list of 

 the described butterflies of Australia; to my mind it 

 displays an amount of ignorance of the subject upon which 

 the author treats that surprises me, considering the facili- 

 ties which I should imagine he possessed of obtaining 

 information on the matter, and which I should have sup- 

 posed he would have availed himself of before publishing 

 his Catalogue. 



I take the liberty of offering some observations upon the 

 synonymy adopted in several cases where it apj^ears to me 

 errors exist, and of also adding the names of many species 

 Avhich are knoAvn to me as undoubtedly Australian, and of 

 some other reputed ones which are totally omitted by Mr. 

 Masters in his Catalogue ; in doing so I have not scrupled 

 in some cases, and with all deference, to differ from the 

 opinions of other authorities besides Mr. Masters in the 

 synonymy of some of our species. I only regret that the 

 very limited opportunities of consulting authoritative works 

 on the subject prevent my bringing to bear a deeper and 

 more thorough knowledge of a matter in which I feel a 

 very great deal of interest. 



The arrangement of the genera adopted by Mr. Masters 

 is a puzzle to me ; I cannot understand upon what princi- 

 ple or rule he prefers in some cases names (restored by 



TRANS. ENT. SOC. 1874. — PART II. (aPR.) R 



