226 COLLECTIONS AT GLANVII.I.ES WOOTTON HOUSE. 



me of his liaving found a red cowslip growing wild, which I 

 believe is a very great curiosity." 



As will be seen from the foregoing account, the Rev. F. O. 

 Morris stated that my father had a hundred and twenty drawers 

 full of insects in 1837. Now (1900) I have three hundred 

 and seventy-seven drawers all full of British insects. The 

 butterflies form the most important portion, being contained 

 in twenty large drawers. The most valuable drawer (the 

 bonne louche of the butterflies) is beyond question that of 

 the beautiful series of the Large Copper, taken by my 

 father at Whittlesea Mere. Since the Fen districts have 

 been drained and reclaimed, these lustrous denizens of the 

 marshes, as well as other species of insects and birds, have 

 disappeared. None have been taken since 1850, and their 

 nearest relatives are found in the Pontine Marshes near Rome. 

 Besides the three rows of the Large and Scarce Coppers, there 

 is a whole row of the Mazarine Blue, another extinct species, 

 formerly found at Glanvilles Wootton, and a fine series of both 

 the Small Copper and the Small Blue, containing good varieties, 

 especially of the former, one being entirely white. There are 

 besides in the drawer a couple of the rare Pea-pod Argus 

 (Bicticus), and also of Argiades, taken in Somersetshire by the 

 Rev. Seymour St. John's friend, Dr. Marsh. This drawer would 

 fetch at least ^"200. One specimen of the Large Copper, an 

 exceptionally dark variety, is one of the most valuable insects in 

 the world. If put up to auction it would probably fetch ^50 or 

 more, as it would be competed for not only by British entomolo- 

 gists but by those from France, Germany, and America. There 

 are two grand drawers of the Blues, containing a row of the 

 Large Blues, mostly taken at Langport by my father, and magnifi- 

 cent varieties of the Chalk Hill, Clifden, and Common Blues, 

 many of them being worth ^5 apiece. Another good drawer 

 of varieties is that of the Meadow Brown and Ringlet. The 

 two best of the former were taken by myself at Glanvilles 

 Wootton in 1864. A similar example to one of them was in 

 Mr. Briggs' collection, and fetched 7 at the auction in Stevens' 



