PREFACE 



rTlHIS little book has been written in the hope that 

 -"- it may appeal to several classes of readers. 



Not infrequently I have been asked by friends of 

 different callings in life to recommend them some book 

 on mimicry which shall be reasonably short, well 

 illustrated without being very costly, and not too 

 hard to understand. I have always been obliged to 

 tell them that I know of nothing in our language 

 answering to this description, and it is largely as an 

 attempt to remedy this deficiency that the present 

 little volume has been written. 



I hope also that it will be found of interest to those 

 who live in or visit tropical lands, and are attracted by 

 the beauty of the butterfly life around them. There 

 are few such countries without some of these cases 

 of close resemblance between butterflies belonging to 

 different families and groups, and it is to those who 

 have the opportunity to be among them that we must 

 look for fuller light upon one of the most fascinating of 

 all nature's problems. If this little book serves to 



