BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



will be described in the succeeding pages, it 

 becomes needful to show the application of 

 them to purposes of classification. It will be 

 seen by those who consult theLinnean method, 

 as carried out by our own venerated Ha worth, 

 that the perfect insect alone was regarded as 

 furnishing characters for the division and sub- 

 division of groups ; but almost simultaneously 

 with the early and invaluable investigations 

 of Linneus, two officers in the Austrian army 

 had discovered the absolute insufficiency 

 of differences in the form of an antenna or 

 the outline of a wing for the foundation of a 

 natural system of arrangement; still, although 

 *,hese gentlemen insisted on the propriety, 

 nay even the necessity, of employing in 

 classification all the characters of caterpil- 

 lar, chrysalis, and butterfly, our publishing 

 entomologists for more than half a century 

 resolutely resisted the so-called objectionable 

 innovation, and declined to study, except as 

 an authority for the names of species, the 

 most profound and philosophical work that 

 Entomology has yet called into existence. 



At last we are beginning to see the necessity 

 for extending the area over which to search 

 for distinctive character. We are now so glad 

 to receive every possible hint from Nature 

 nerself, that instead of disregai'ding the cha- 

 racters of caterpillar and chrysalis, we very 

 frequently wait the discovery of these before 

 venturing an opinion as to the place which any 

 newly -discovered species ought to occupy in a 

 natural system. More than this, a disposition 

 is rapidly gaining ground to acknowledge that 

 the earliest and not the latest stages of an in- 

 sect's life are the most likely to furnish us with 

 permanent characteristics. It is, however, a 



matter whichlcannot mention without regret, 

 and which certainly may be useful in moderat- 

 ing any extravagant estimate we may form of 

 our own knowledge, that although we accep- 

 the importance of the caterpillar and chrysalis 

 in all our arrangements, we have hitherto 

 failed in discovering any character in either 

 by which positively to distinguish a Butterfly 

 from a Moth. Thib lamentable truth, this 

 necessary admission of ignorance, may not 

 unreasonably suggest the query whether 

 Nature has really drawn any distinct line 

 between the two, and whether the differences 

 which, in common with others, I have pointed 

 out as distinguishing Butterflies from Moths 

 are indeed sufficient for the purpose. 



It is doubtless a most noteworthy fact that 

 every character hitherto suggested seems to 

 break down before exceptions, and to destroy 

 the fond hope we may have entertained of 

 being able so to word our definitions that they 

 shall preclude the possibility of exceptions. 

 This, I think, forcibly demonstrates the folly 

 of trying to enforce our views on Nature, who 

 will be sure to have her own way, and go 

 directly to her own object, however incon 

 sistent with our human schemes that obiecf 

 may be. The reader will kindly receive these 

 remarks as somewhat anologetical, and as 

 penned under a deep sense of the imperfection 

 of the classification I am about to propose. 1 

 have already explained that the portion of th<- 

 Lepidoptera, or Scale-winged insects, which 

 I am intending to describe, are popularly 

 termed "Butterflies" inEngland and America, 

 " Papillons" in France, and "Schmetterlinge" 

 in Germany. I propose to classify them as 

 below. 



BUTTERFLIES (IN SCIENCE LEPIDOPTERA PEDUNCULATA.) 



1. EXPOSERS (in Science DETEGENTES). Those which in the chrysalis state are exposed 

 to the full influence of weather and light, rarely attempting concealment, and still more rarely 

 protected from rain or snow, wind, heat, or cold. When thus exposed during the winter they 

 are not unfrequently frozen, as already stated, into solid and very brittle lumps of ice, and 

 consequently may be broken to pieces without exhibiting the slightest indication of vitality ; 

 yet if left unmolested in the situations they have selected they in variably recover, and revert 

 lo the condition in which the frost overtook them. These naked and exposed chrysalids are 



