1892.] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 39 



"I HAVE never looked at this lovely thing {Papilio marchandii) with 

 its delicate form and brilliant hue, without my thoughts reverting to the 

 long past builders of the temples and altars of Palenque and Copan; the 

 butterfly flitted through the tropical groves in their day, as now, but the 

 inhabitants of the old dead cities have passed away, their names, their 

 history unknown! Birds, "reptiles and insects now alone tenant the forest 

 where once stood the populous cities, the kings and priests of which, with 

 their slaves, sycophants, long ages ago have gone to rest; naught remains 

 of their past greatness but the moss-coated and time-worn ruins of altar 

 and idol, and the frail, golden butterfly hovers, suspended in mid-air, over 

 the monster face of some fallen dagon, which far back beyond even ' the 

 night of time,' received its meed of human sacrifice; in imagination, we 

 can see the temples restored, the long train of devotees, all the para- 

 phernalia of pagan worship, we can hear the sound of music, the shrieks 

 of the agonized prisoner about to be offered as a propitiation to some 

 monstrous conception of barbaric superstition; but all now is hushed; 

 priest, cacique and victim alike, are gone, fallen are the idols, giant trees 

 grasp with their roots the ruins of the temples, and creeping vines and 

 gorgeous flowers mingle with the sculpture of the marvelous shrines; 

 scarce a sound is heard save the rustling of some snake gliding stealthily 

 to its hole, or shimmering lizard runningover leaf or twig." (Lepidoptera, 

 Rhopaloceres and Heteroceres, H. Strecker.) 



List of Dragonflies taken at Lake Quinsigamond, W^orcester, Mass., 

 during the seasons of '89 and '90. 



They were identified by Miss Wadsworth, of Hallowell. 



E. F. HiTCHiNGS, Bucksport, Me. 



