28 



put this forward as a suggestion as regards the species now 

 under consideration ; but in the case of Boannia repandata, I 

 have proved that if both parents are of the conversaria form, 

 most of the progeny are of the same form ; whilst some are 

 more beautifully marked modifications of that form, and still 

 further removed from the repandata form than were the 

 parents. In experiments with other species, the results have 

 also been of a similar character ; and altogether I am led to 

 believe that by careful selection throughout a series of 

 generations, it would be possible in the case of A. caia to 

 produce entire broods of such varieties as those of which 

 drawings are exhibited." 



Mr. South also exhibited some examples of Arctia caia, L., 

 artificially darkened by being killed with nicotine after the 

 expansion of the wings, and before they had dried. Mr. 

 Fenn suggested that insects were not killed at once by nicotine, 

 but remained some time in a paralyzed condition ; hence the 

 change might take place during the extremely slow circulation 

 of the blood before death ensued. Messrs. Tugwell, Frohawk, 

 Adkin, etc., made remarks as to the apparent absence of the 

 sensation of pain in insects. 



Mr. C. G. Barrett exhibited a long series oi Noctua f estiva, 

 Hb., from all parts of the British Isles, including Ireland and 

 Shetland. He stated that Mr. Hart of Dublin had taken 

 worn N. f estiva, at sugar early in June. The species then 

 disappeared, and later on it appeared again, and these latter 

 examples seemed to him to be a partial second brood. Some 

 of these were smaller and with narrower wings, comparable 

 to the so-called Scotch N. confiua. He expressed the opinion 

 that the series shown were all of one species. 



Mr. Robt. Adkin also exhibited series of this species from 

 Forres, Rannoch, and Shetland. The Forres series comprised 

 captured as well as bred specimens. The latter, he believed, 

 were from one batch of ova, and the larvffi had been fed up 

 in a warm room, the moths appearing during the winter 

 months. Some of them were full-sized, and much resembled 

 the typical southern form ; while others were small, narrow- 

 winged specimens. The captured Forres and Rannoch 

 specimens were somewhat smallj and showed great variation 

 in ornamentation ; while the one bred Rannoch example was 

 large in size and pale in colour. In the Shetland series 

 exhibited, the general tendency was in the direction of 

 melanism. 



Mr. Tugwell exhibited N. f estiva, Hb., a series of South 

 of England forms, specimens from Aberdeen, two from 



