84 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



valley, where on the sides of a streamlet, Brenthis selene, appar- 

 ently only recently out of the chrysalis, and one rather worn 

 B. eiiphrospie were sporting among the wild flowers, while 

 Limenitis Camilla was netted flying round a bush. Returning to 

 the hotel for lunch several fresh specimens of Go7iepteryx rhamni 

 and some bright Vanessa urticcB were secured. I did not again 

 visit the summit of the Ballon d'Alsace until July 26th, by which 

 time Erehia stygne had knocked itself to pieces, and E. ligea had 

 taken its place as the most abundant butterfly. On this occasion 

 a freshly-emerged female Parnassius apollo was found at rest on 

 a flower-head on a steep slope just below the statue to the 

 Virgin, which has been erected on the highest point. On July 

 4th, Mr. Barraud and I paid a visit to Wesserling, a German 

 town, which was reached by coach from Bussang at the head of 

 the St. Maurice valley. At the top of the col, at an altitude of 

 2410 ft., the road passes through a tunnel, and we emerge in 

 German territory. A characteristic feature of the Vosges range 

 is that on the western slope the descent to the level of the plains 

 is gradual, whereas on the eastern side the declivity is very 

 abrupt. This is well seen on the ride to Wesserling, and we 

 ran quickly down the steep gradients to our destination. We 

 had only about a hour's collecting at Wesserling, but it proved 

 to be very remunerative. Crossing the railway near the station 

 we ascended a wooded hill and were soon busy. Never, I think, 

 have I seen such an abundance of butterflies, especially oi Argyn- 

 nis paphia, which was present in countless numbers on every 

 bramble bush. Here we got ten specimens of Brenthis daphne, of 

 which Mr. Barraud had met with a single example at St. Maurice 

 on July 3rd. L. Camilla, I. lathonia, A. adippe and its var. cleodoxa, 

 M. didyma, and M. galatea were among the species taken. We 

 were experiencing perfect weather, and the next day we deter- 

 mined to ascend the Ballon de Servance. The path led past the 

 spot where a few days before we had discovered E. ligea and 

 close by Mr. Barraud found Hipparchia semele, having lower down 

 taken the first specimen of the season of Leptosia sinapis. 

 Crossing the heathy slope where the commoner blues and 

 fritillaries were sporting in the sunshine, the way next traversed 

 the dense pine forest, where no sign of winged life was to be 

 seen, but after a stiff climb through the gloom we emerged into 

 a sunny meadow, where we were soon hard at work taking 

 among other things some rather worn specimens of Chrysophanus 

 hippothoe. Another short walk through the forest brought us 

 on to the military road leading to the fort on the summit. A 

 flowery space among the young fir trees was spied, which proved 

 to be a veritable " butterfly corner," and where we afterwards 

 spent many pleasant moments in the company of Vanessa io, 

 V. urticce, Polygonia c-alhum, Erehia ligea, E. stygne, Issoria 

 lathonia, Pararge UKsra, Argynnis paphia, A. adippe, A. aglaia, 



