442 Mr. II. Campion on Fabricius's Types of 



tlie collection necessitated its removal from the large and 

 ornate cabinet in which it was then contained, it has fortu- 

 nately renuiined intact and se|;arate from the main collections 

 of the Musenm. 



With regard to the identification-labels relating to these 

 historical S]iecimens, an attempt has been made to determine, 

 bv tlie character of the handwriting itself, whetlier Fabricius 

 was the author of all or any of them. Tlirougii the good 

 otfices of Mr. J. H. Diirrant I have been able to examine the 

 caligraphy of two holograph letters written by Fabriciiis in 

 Paris in 1805. Althougli both were produced in the same 

 year, there is a considerable difference between them in style 

 and even in the formation of letters — a fact which makes it 

 all the more difficult to distinguish Fabricius's hand from 

 other writing of tiie same perio(h At the same time, these 

 labels are in two different styles of writing, at least, and the 

 two styles may even be detected upon the same label. 

 Nevertheless, I think it may be assumed that most, if not all, 

 of the drawer-labels in the Banks Collection are the work of 

 Fabricius himself. Tlie case of the pin-labels in the General 

 Collection is much clearer, as they correspond exactly, both in 

 form and caligraphy, with the labels attached to certain 

 undoubted Fabrician types of Coleoptera to which Dr. C. J. 

 Uahan has kindly called my attention. 



I. Specimens in the Banks Collection. 



Tiie twelve Banksiau dragonflies, which nominally repre- 

 sent as many species, are in a fair state of preservation, and^ 

 with the exception of those labelled LibeUula Carolina, ^sJina 

 grandis, Agrion virgo, and A. linearis, are the types of 

 species described by Fabricius at various dates. Five of 

 these are the types of nominal species merely, the valid 

 species represetited by their t3'pes being LibeUula \_Neiiro- 

 the7nis^ stigmatizans, L. [^J{hyut/ienns'\ notaia, and Agrion 

 \_iSa/jho'\ ciliata. (certain olher types referred to by Fabricius 

 as being in the Banksian Collection are not now to be found 

 tiiere, and I am unable to learn anything concerning their 

 fate. The missing insects are Libel hda In ftisciata { = ? Li- 

 beUula Ij/dia, Drury, ^ ), L. variegata { = L'alpopleu7-a lucia, 

 Drury, $ ), and ^shiia variegata. As regaids the last- 

 named, the British Museum register of accessions expressly 

 mentions ^shna variegata, from Tierra del Fuego, as being 

 in the Banksian Collection at the time of its acquisition by 

 the Museum (1863). In 1887 McLachlan knew of its 

 disappearance, and wrote, " In order to save disappointment, 



