442 Ml-. H. Campion on Fahricius's Types of 



llie collection necessitated its removal from the large and 

 ornate cabinet in which it was then contained, it has fortu- 

 nately remained intact and separate from the main collections 

 of the Museum. 



With regard to the identification-labels relating to these 

 liistorical specimens, an attempt has been made to determine, 

 by the cliaracter o£ the iiandwriting itself, whether Fabricius 

 was the author of all or any of them. Through the good 

 ofKces of Mr. J. H. Durrant I have been able to examine the 

 caligraphy of two holograph letters written by Fabricius in 

 Paris in 1805. Although both were produced in the same 

 year, there is a considerable difference between them in style 

 and even in the formation of letters — a fact which makes it 

 all the more difficult to distinguish Fabricius's hand from 

 other writing of the same period. At the satne time, these 

 labels are in two different styles of writing, at least, and the 

 two styles may even be detected upon the same label. 

 Nevertlieless, I think it may be assumed that most, if not all, 

 of the drawer-labels in the Banks Collection are the work of 

 Fabricius himself. The case of the pin-labels in the General 

 Collection is much clearer, as they correspond exactly, both in 

 form and caligraphy, with the labels attached to certain 

 undoubted Fabrician types of Coleoptera to which Dr. C. J. 

 Gahan has kindly called my attention. 



I. Specimens in the Banks Collection. 



Tiie twelve Banksian dragonflies, which nominally repre- 

 sent as many species, are in a fair state of preservation, and, 

 with the exception of those labelled Libellula Carolina, u3Eshna 

 grandls, Ayrion virgo^ and A. linearis, are the types of 

 species described by Fabricius at various dates. Five of 

 tliese are the types of nominal species merely, the valid 

 species represented by their tj-pes being Libellula \_Nenro- 

 tliemis^ stigmatizansy L. \_R}iyutheinis'\ notata, and Agrion 

 [ >Sapho'\ ciliata. Certain olher types referred to by Fabricius 

 as being in the Banksian Collection are not now to be found 

 there, and 1 am unable to learn anything concerning their 

 fate. The missing insects are Libellula hifasciata { = ? Li- 

 helhcla lijdia, Drury, ^ ), L. variegata { = Jr'al2Jopleuralucia, 

 Drury, ? ), and j^shna variegata. As regards the last- 

 named, the British Museum register of accessions expressly 

 mentions u3Eshna variegata, from Tierra del Fuega, as being 

 in the Banksian Collection at the time of its acquisition by 

 the Museum (1863), In 1887 McLaclilan knew of its 

 disappearance, and wrote, " In order to save disappointment, 



