April 9, 1896] 



NATURE 



541 



fore wing) acquired dark borders. At the same time 

 traces of dark spots, like those of the allied species, ap- 

 peared in certain individuals, while the under side, espe- 

 cially of the hind wing, underwent changes which are also 

 described in V. to, gaining a pattern in brown scales which 

 recalled that of V.polyc/doros, &c. A longer period (thirty- 

 nine days) produced far less interesting results, the blue 

 being increased, the yellow border diminished, and the 

 ground colour darkened. Forty-four days in the re- 

 frigerator produced more marked effects in the same 

 direction, the blue spots of the hind wing being so 

 increased that they project into the yellow border. The 

 ground colour of both upper and under sides is much 

 darkened. This beautiful variety is called by the author 

 \ar. roederi. 



As regards other species of butterflies, Standfuss's 

 results afford valuable confirmation of those obtained by 

 Merrifield. Thus heat {y]° C.) produced light-coloured 

 imagines of Grapta C-alhum with less sharply-defined 

 markings and less deeply indented wing margins ; while 

 cold produced opposite effects, the dark colours of the 

 under sides of the wings being often " mingled with 

 moss-green tints." 



In Vanessa polyckloros, heat (37° C.) reduced the 

 marginal blue spots and the dark wing-border, and 

 brightened the colour of the upper sides of the wings, 

 cold producing the opposite results. 



In V. urticce, more extreme effects in the same direc- 

 tion were witnessed, heat causing an approach towards 

 the var. ichnusa, and to a certain extent towards V. to; 

 while cold produced butterflies which recalled the North 

 American V. milherii It was noteworthy that pupae kept 

 on ice for forty-two days (emerging thirteen to fourteen 

 days afterwards), produced less deviation from the normal 

 than those which had been exposed for only thirty-two 

 days, and emerged nine to ten days afterwards. In neither 

 case is there any record of the numbers of individuals 

 made use of. 



In V. 10, heat produced little result, while cold (thirty- 

 five days in refrigerator) caused most interesting changes 

 in the direction of V. urticce and V. polychloros. A 

 longer period of cold (forty-two days) still further inten- 

 sified these changes, which affected the under as well as 

 the upper sides of the wings, the well-known uniform 

 darkness of V. io giving place in the most extreme 

 examples to a sharply-defined pattern in brown scales, 

 far more suggestive of the above-mentioned species of 

 Vanessa. 



In Vanessa atalanfa, heat greatly reduced the blue in 

 margin of the fore wing, widened the red band, and 

 reduced the apical white spots ; thus approximating 

 towards V. callirrhoe. Cold (thirty-one days) conversely 

 increased the large white spot, reduced the red band by 

 the encroachment of dark shades, and increased the blue. 

 A longer period of cold (forty-two days) produced ten 

 almost normal insects and a single extreme form. It 

 would therefore appear that less effects were, on the 

 whole, produced by the longer period, although the 

 materials for a valid comparison are absent, inasmuch as 

 the author only informs us that there was " much indi- 

 vidual variation" in the results of the shorter period. 



In Vanessa cardiii a higher temperature (40^ C. = 

 104^ F.) was made use of for two periods of six hours, 

 alternating with one of twelve hours at the normal tem- 

 perature (about 22° C. = 72^ F.). Only two pupic out of 

 forty-two failed to emerge, although twelve produced 

 crippled butterflies. Four specimens were of the var. 

 (■/)'/«/, the remainder normal. In another experiment 

 with 36° to yj^' C. for sixty hours, a remarkably pale form 

 was produced ; while in other cases the red colour, often 

 acquiring a brownish tinge, was increased in extent on 

 both upper and under surface of the wings. Cold (twenty- 

 three days), on the other hand, darkened both sides of 

 the wings. A longer period of cold (twenty-eight 



NO. 1380, VOL. 53] 



days) produced, on the whole, rather more extreme 



effects. 



In Argynnis aglaia, heat (four days at 36° C.) produced 

 very little effect, the ground colour of the upper sides of 

 the wings being lighter, the greyish-green shades of the 

 under sides darker and more conspicuous than usual. 

 After twenty-eight days of cold, only three uninjured 

 insects emerged from twenty-one pup;e ; in these the 

 ground colour was unaltered, the black spots at the base 

 of the fore wing enlarged, while the greyish-green shades, 

 described above, gained a brown tinge. After a longer 

 period of cold (forty-two days), two insects emerged 

 from twelve pup;t, and these showed far more extreme 

 effects in the darkening of both upper and under sides of 

 the wings. 



The pupai of Dasychira abietis were killed by heat 

 37° C, while cold (forty-two days) tended to darken the 

 insects. 



Some experiments were also made upon the effects of 

 comparative dryness and moisture upon the pupae. Large 

 numbers of pupae of Saturnia pavonia were kept very 

 dry from June to the end of September, and were then 

 exposed to moisture; a treatment which the author believes, 

 from repeated . experiments, causes about i per cent, of 

 the moths to emerge in about ten to twenty days, instead 

 of hybernating. In these moths the pattern was " not 

 sharply outlined, but more or less washed out and 

 confused." 



Towards the end of the paper the author gives a brief 

 and general account of the results obtained by subjecting 

 the pupa; to heat and cold. He summarises the various 

 classes of effects as follows : 



(i) "Seasonal forms" similar to those which are known 

 to occur in nature ( V. C-album and P. machaon to some 

 extent). 



(2) Local forms and races similar to those which occur 

 constantly in certain localities ( V. urticce, cardui, and to 

 some extent P. vtachaon and V. antiopd). 



(3) Entirely exceptional forms or " aberrations," also 

 occurring from time to time in nature ( V. io, V. cardui, 

 argynnis aglaia). 



(4) Phylogenetic forms, not now occurring on the earth, 

 " but which may either have existed in past epochs, or 

 may perhaps be destined _^to arise in the future " ( V. io, 

 V. antiopa, V. atalanta). 



This portion of the paper, although of interest, is not 

 equal to the experimental portion, and cannot be in any 

 way compared with Dixey's careful consideration of the 

 results of Merrifield's experiments. 



It is to be hoped that Dr. Standfuss will continue his 

 experiments on this most interesting subject. E. B. P. 



A NEW SYNOPSIS ANIMALIUM—DAS 

 TIERREICH. 



FROM rough calculations lately made by the con- 

 tributors to the Zoological Record, it would appear 

 that some 360,000 species of animals have been described 

 by naturalists up to the present date. To arrange all 

 these species on a uniform system, and to add descrip- 

 tions and other necessary particulars to each of them, 

 would appear to be almost an herculean task. Yet it 

 has been undertaken, we are told, by the German 

 Zoological Society, which has entered into an agreement 

 with Messrs. Friedlander and Son for the publication of 

 such a work. Prof. F. E. Schultze, of Berlin, has been 

 selected as general editor of " Das Tierreich," and will 

 be assisted by numerous sub-editors in the different 

 departments of zoology. Each of these sub-editors 

 again will invite the assistance of specialists in the 

 groups assigned to his charge, so that a very large 

 number of naturalists will assist in this gigantic under- 

 taking. It is proposed to issue the first parts of the 

 work in 1897, and it is expected that at least twenty-five 



