IKTEODUCTOKY. 



rpHE happy discovery in the Museum of Marseilles of a new fossil butterfly 

 -^ first drew my special attention to this group of extinct insects, and 

 determined me to make, during my residence in Europe, a careful study of 

 the original types of all that had been previously described. By the great 

 courtesy of Count Saporta, Professor Heer, Dr. Reynes, Mr. Oustalet, Mr. 

 Woodward, the Rev. Mr. Brodie, Mr. Charlesworth, and the authorities of the 

 Jermyn street Museum, I was able to study not only all the originals of the 

 Museums of Aix, Marseilles, Zurich, Paris, London, Cambridge and Warwick, 

 but several new types, described here for the first time. As I was unable 

 to visit Vienna, Mr. Brunner de Wattenwyl was good enough to procure for 

 me new drawings, made under his immediate supervision, of the species from 

 Radoboj, described by Heer and preserved in the museums of that city. So that 

 I have either personally inspected all the fossils described within recent times as 

 butterflies, or have procured new and excellent original drawings of them, with 

 the exception of Heer's Vanessa attavina {Sphinx atava Charp.), which I was 

 unable to find, and two fragments of slight value, viz.: the hind wing referred 

 by Heer to his Vanessa Pluto, and the portion of a hind wing, called Cyllonium 

 Hewitsonianum by Westwood. In the hope of drawing attention to fossil 

 butterflies, which have been hitherto so little studied, I have brought together 

 in this connection all that has been published of this group of fossils, whether 

 of text or illustration; presenting thus, within a small compass, a complete 

 account of our knowledge of these insects, as a basis for future investigations. 



