83 



intense pleasure it was removed from the net to the pocket- 

 box ; indeed, a relation of mine when he first caught that 

 magnificent species was so overcome by excitement that he 

 was obliged to pause for some time before he could secure 

 his prize. 



Dr. A. R. Wallace, giving his experience of his first capture 

 of that splendid species Ornithoptera crastis, says, " On taking 

 it out of my net, and opening the glorious wings, my heart 

 began to beat violently, the blood rushed to my head, and I 

 felt more like fainting than I have done when in the appre- 

 hension of immediate death." I believe most of us would 

 have a feeling akin to this upon the capture of a much-coveted 

 species or variety. 



I claim, therefore, for our science, that its pursuit in the 

 field is attended by the most pleasurable excitement ; that 

 it gratifies in a peculiarly unobjectionable manner the innate 

 love of hunting ; and to all, particularly those whose avoca- 

 tions are of a sedentary character, it affords a change of 

 occupation, conducive in the highest degree to health and 

 longevity, as the obituaries of the Linnaean, Entomological, 

 and other Natural History Societies amply testify. 



In youth, therefore, I am of opinion that the entomologist 

 should be more of a field than a closet naturalist ; not neglect- 

 ing the literature of the science, particularly during the winter 

 months ; he will thus lay up a rich store of knowledge, and 

 his collections will afford him, especially those parts made 

 personally, the best materials for the more scientific work of 

 riper age. 



The members of this Society are eminently distinguished 

 by having attained to the highest excellence in rearing 

 Lepidoptera through their earlier stages, often from the egg. 

 This is a most important branch of entomology, because it is 

 only through the ontogeny of a species that a correct know- 

 ledge of its philogeny can be obtained, and as a result its 

 proper classificatory position determined. 



To give an example ; I believe it is generally admitted 

 that the imagines oi Acroitycta psi and A. iridens cannot be 

 separated, yet the adult larvae of the two species widely differ ; 

 although, as shown by Dr. Chapman, vide " Entomologist's 

 Record " for 1892, plate vi, the distinction between the very 

 young larv^ can be recognized, almost only, by the different 

 alternation of the dark and light-coloured segments of their 

 bodies. These moths, therefore, present us with the singular 

 fact, that two species are barely differentiated in their earliest 

 larval state, inseparable as perfect moths, and widely different 



