244 Pontia Charicléa and Metra. 
rapx. But does not this circumstance, on the contrary, tend 
rather to show that the insects in question are merely varieties 
of the two last-mentioned species? For it certainly would be 
strange that two insects, which, to say the least of them, are 
so closely allied, in habit as well as in markings and appear- 
ance, to P. brassicze and rape, as to be generally confounded 
with them, and which, moreover, appear so early as the end 
of March or the beginning of April, should be only single~ 
brooded, while their near allies P. brassicae and rapae, which 
do not appear till later in the season, are known to produce 
two or more broods in the course of the summer. * No mate- 
rial difference has yet been observed in the caterpillar or chry- 
salis of the early whites, to distinguish them from P. brassicze 
and rape; and the distinctions in the markings, Xc., pointed 
out by Mr. Stephens in proof of their being genuine species, 
seem scarcely sufficient to outweigh what may be urged on 
the other side. It is to be hoped, however, that, ere long, 
Mr. Stephens will decide the question, as he proposes, by 
rearing the insects from the egg. It is with some reluctance 
that I have ventured an opinion in opposition to that of so 
acute an observer as my friend, the author of J/ustrations of 
Entomology. Should these remarks meet his eye, I trust he 
will excuse their freedom, my only object being the elucida- 
tion of the truth. Let me remind him of the memorable 
words of a great father in natural history, on an occasion 
when he found himself under the painful necessity of dissent- 
ing from the doctrine of a revered friend, augoiv avrosy gidoiv, 
Gorey mpotidy THy aAnberav. (Aristot. Eth.) + 
Allesley Rectory, Oct. 30. 1828. W. T. Bree. 
P.S.— The figure of P. Metra (Vol. II. p. 227. fig. 57.) is 
too large, and the spots and markings far too strong. If 
Mr. Rennie advocates the doctrine that P. Metra is a distinct 
species, he (or the artist employed) has not made the most 
of the case, by giving such a figure as the one referred to, 
which appears to be nothing more than a faithful representa- 
tion of the genuine P. rapa. He might with truth have 
represented the insect considerably smaller, and with the 
black tips and spots scarcely visible. Several of such nearly 
immaculate specimens I took this season (1830), at the end 
of March. 
* Of P. rape there appears to be a succession of broods throughout the 
summer and autumn. There would, of course, have been at least two (viz. 
the spring and summer) broods previously to the Ist of August, on which 
day, in the present year, I saw a specimen come forth from the chrysalis ; 
and another, which [ had in confinement, came out on the 29th of Septem- 
ber. Probably P. brassicze and napi are equally productive. 
+ Aristotle is alluding to his friendship for Plato; and observes, that, 
though both are dear to him, it is best, before all things, to respect the truth. 
