collected hy W. J. Burchell in Brazil. 307 



before the appearance of the * Gazette ' is to be found on the 

 reverse sides of the sheets ! 



A few Notices of the years 1864-, 1865, and 1867 are tlius 

 employed, together with large numbers issued in 1866 and 

 1869. A single paper with the date 1871 is made use of. 

 It is therefore almost certain that the list was begun at once 

 and finished within about six years of the gift. My first 

 experience of the Department was in the summer of 1873, 

 and I feel sure that the work was not going on then and was 

 not resumed at a later date. Professor Westwood was keenly 

 interested in the collection and appreciated it at its true 

 worth. About six months after its arrival in Oxford he had 

 already made a preliminary survey, and, on Nov. 26th, 1866, 

 gave an account of it to the Ashmolean Society. The 

 * Proceedings ' of this Society are very rare, and I have 

 thought it well to reprint the passages in which the collection 

 is described and its great significance demonstrated. 



" On the Data afforded hy the Burchellian Collection as to 

 the Geographical and Modificational Ranges of certain 

 Brazilian Insects. By J. O. WesTWOOD, M.A.', F.L.S., 

 Hope Professor of Zoology. 



[' Proceedings of the Ashmolean Society,' New Series, No. I, 

 Read Monday, Nov. 26th, 1866.] 



" Professor Westwood gave an account of the very exten- 

 sive collections in various branches of zoology formed in 

 South Africa and Brazil by the late Dr. W. J. Burchell, and 

 presented to the University of Oxford by his surviving sister, 

 in recognition of the honour conferred on her brother by the 

 degree of D.C.L. some years previously. The collection was 

 extremely rich, both in the number of species and also of 

 individuals, and was especially valuable from the great care 

 which had been taken in attaching the date of capture to every 

 specimen, whereby, in conjunction with the journal kept by 

 Dr. Buichell, the amount of geographical range and modifica- 

 tional change of each species could be accurately determined. 

 Tlie Brazilian portion of the collection had been made during 

 a visit extending over three years [in reality nearly five 

 years], in which period Dr. Burchell investigated the natural 

 history of Bio Janeiro and its neighbourhood, thence pro- 

 ceeding southwards to Santos and San Paulo, thence north- 

 westwards to Goyaz, and thence due north by the Tocantins 

 to Para and its neighbourhood. Copious note-books were 

 kept, and entries made daily, so that it may safely be affirmed 

 that in respect to its geograpliical data no collection equal to 

 this has ever reached Europe. The donation of the collection 



20* 



