66 THE entomologist's record. 



described in Europe, Asia, and America, in the various parts of its 

 range from the Arctic to subtropical regions. 



A remark in our " Retrospect " iantea, p. 306) re past, incompetent, 

 interference with certain historical British collections of lepidoptera in 

 the British Museum, has been held as likely to reflect on Mr. South, 

 who is at present combining these collections. We need not say that, 

 strongly as we feel on the absurdity of interfering with the collections 

 at all, we are not so stupid as to think that Mr. South is in any way 

 responsible for the determination of the authorities to combine them. 

 On the other hand, we congratulate the authorities, that, once having 

 settled on this (to us, absurd) line of action, they have put the matter 

 into the hands of so competent a lepidopterist, one who, indeed, knows 

 well the insects with which he is dealing. 



<D BITU AR Y. 



Mrs. Emma Sarah Hutchinson died December 10th, 1905, aged 

 85 years. — It is with the greatest regret that we have to record the 

 death of Mrs. Emma Sarah Hutchinson, at Grantsfield, on December 

 10th last, at the age of 85 years. She Avas probably not very well known 

 to the younger race of lepidopterists, belonging rather to the period of 

 Bond, Doubleday, Newman, and Stainton, and was, perhaps, the last 

 survivor of that group of workers. She continued to take an active 

 interest in entomology to the last, and, we believe, continued to rear the 

 domesticated race of Eapithecia consignata, for which she became 

 famous. Mrs. Hutchinson's forte was certainly in rearing larvfe, of 

 which evidence may be found in " Buckler's Larvae, etc." Besides E. 

 consujnata, her name is well known as an authority on Polygonia 

 c-album, of which, indeed, the summer form is named liutchinsonii. 

 Cerostoma asperella, a Hereford species, was one of her notable 

 discoveries. Unfortunately she was disinclined to publish her observa- 

 tions, and one of her earliest papers of importance, her list of " Here- 

 fordshire Lepidoptera," in the Transactions of the Woolhoioe Club, for 

 1866, is presented as " by the family of the Rev. Thos. Hutchinson," 

 and the same title appears above a supplementary list in the volume for 

 1870. Amongst other valuable notes in this list, she says : " In 1866, 

 I informed you of the capture of Eiipithecia consignata, and can now, 

 with pleasure, record that since then we have been able to place specimens 

 in the collections of many friends and other noted entomologists, 

 having reared many splendid moths from the ova." So that she 

 reared this moth continuously for nearly (or more than ?) forty years. 

 It was nearly the middle of this period before the inbred race was 

 invigorated by the addition of a captured specimen. A further and 

 more extended list was published in the Woolhope Transactions for 

 1887, by her son, Mr. Thos. Hutchinson, who was by this time a good 

 entomologist, and no doubt had done a fair share of the collecting and 

 of compiling the list, in which also. Dr. Wood's work amongst the 

 micros is very conspicuous. Though too unobtrusive, Mrs. Hutchinson 

 takes quite a first place amongst the lady entomologists of recent years. 

 Her work was localised, but her knowledge of the lepidoptera of the 

 Leominster district, of their habits and life-histories, ranges her with 

 such names as Hellins, Doubleday, Bernard-Smith, Bond, Barrett, etc., 

 and it is to be regretted that she has left record of so little of her 

 knowledge. 



