VI. 



humously by his friend Dr. Derham, at the command of the Royal Society, 

 in 1710. To it is subjoined " A.ppendia de Scarabseis Britannici, auctore M. 

 Lister, F.R.S., ex. M.S.S. Mussei Ashmoleani," It appears from Ray's 

 letters that his friend Willoughby drew up a history of insects and worms, 

 which probably formed the ground work of the " Historia Insectorium," con- 

 cerning which he says, " The work which 1 have now entered upon is indeed 

 too much for me, I rely chiefly on Mr. Willoughby 's discoveries and the con- 

 tributions of friends." The principal of these were Dale, to whom he 

 bequeathed his collection of insects ; Yernon, who in a letter from Mr. Brume 

 to Mr. Rawlins, June ]4th, 1735, in the Bodleian Collection, is stated to 

 have followed a butterfly nine miles before he caught him ; Petiver, Jezreel 

 Jones, Antrobus, and Dandridge. The descriptions given in the " Historia 

 Insectorium/' especially considering the dark ages of this science in which 

 they were written, are masterpieces of clearness and precision, and such as, 

 in general, render it tolerably easy to ascertain the articles they belong to ; 

 although unaccompanied with figures : but with respect to the arrangement 

 and distribution of its materials, the work is in both these essential points, 

 unquestionably very far inferior to that of Linnaeus ; and indeed, in some 

 particulars, is not much superior to its predecessors. For, like them, it also 

 incongruously blends the Linnsean class of Yermes with the genuine and 

 natural one of insects. He estimates the number of butterflies observed by 

 him and his friends in England to be fifty. The species he describes are : 

 Swallow-tail, Scarce Swallow-tail, Brimstone, Clouded Yellow, Large Cabbage 

 White, Small Cabbage White, Green-veined White, Marbled White or naif- 

 Mourner, Bath White or Greenish-marbled Half-Mourner, Lesser Tortoise- 

 shell, Greater Tortoise-shell, Comma, Silver-streaked Fritillary, Greater Silver- 

 spotted Fritillary, Queen of Spain or Lesser Silver-spotted Fritillary, Light 

 Pearl-bordered or April Fritillary, Dark Pearl-bordered or May Fritillary, 

 Glanville Fritillary, Marsh Fritillary, Duke of Burgundy or Mr. Vernon's 

 Small Fritillary, Painted Lady, Peacock's Eye, Wall or Golden-marbled 

 Butterfly with black eyes, Meadow Brown, Hedge Brown, Small Heath, Small 

 Copper, Small Skipper, Red Admiral, Purple Emperor, White Admiral, 

 Speckled Wood, Black-eyed Marble, Ringlet, Purple Hair-streak, Brown 

 Hair-streak, Common Blue, Heath Blue, Chalk-hill Blue, Azure Blue, 

 Mazarine Blue, Brown Skipper, Spotted Skipper, and Green Hair-streak. 

 He also adds a few exotics found in the museums or cabinets of the curious 

 in and about London. 



In a letter to Mr. Derham, bearing the date of 1703, Mr. Ray writes 

 " I have for some years together been a diligent searcher out of Papilios, 



