2H0 THK KNTOMOT.OdlST S KECORD, 



Saxe, ;il)oiil 1.()(X11'l. aljDVf. Saf(/nis cnnliiht is rather coiiiinon jn'otuid 

 Pre St. Didier, and also between the hitter phice and Courinayeur, and 

 some of the ? s were in fine condition. lUpjianh'ni smirjc appears to 

 he rare; I'aranjc macra is common, /'. Iiioa and I'. tDiijai'ia also 

 towards Aosta. Kii'mcphrli' li/raini is more abundant, especially at 

 Courmayeur, than /•.'. ianira, which is not scarce. ('(H'nonnnijiJia jiaiii- 

 y//;/7/rs appears to be rare, and C araoiia var. ilanriniana very local. 

 Sfiildtliijnis alccar, of a warm brown tint, and ,S. alt/wae of greener shade 

 (the latter with a very white basal spot, and two others in line Avitli 

 this, nearer the inner margin, and one towards the base) were taken 

 almost on the same ground below Pre St. Didier, the former also 

 between Pre St. Didier and Courmayeur, where it bathed in the damp 

 sand with the l)lues. ^'ery fine S'. laratrrac were here and there, 

 flying in excellent form, both above Courmayeur and all the w^ay down 

 to Aosta, whilst Sijn'rhtliiis alrriis, with ab. srrratiilar and ah. cailinac, 

 having small spots and brown ground colour, were common. N. rmaliac 

 was rare, and S. sao common. Is N. varaliac the mountain form of .S'. 

 rarthaiiii ! One does not appear to meet with the second brood of 

 yisaniadcs tdj/rs till one is well doAvn towards Aosta, but 'r/n/meliciis 

 lincola reaches right up the valley to the Glacier de la Ullage, and 

 almost to the upper chalets on the INlont de la Saxe, and with it 

 Pamphila cdnniia. T. thaiinias I did not see, and one 1'. si/lramis, very 

 worn, suggested that the first brood was over, and that there was not 

 likely to be a second one. 



The Theory of Emboitement. 



By T A. CHAPMAN, M.D.. F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



This theory of Swammerdam's seems, as enunciated by Swammer- 

 dam, to be a prevision of our present knowledge of the development of 

 the imago of holometabolic insects. I write to utter a word in 

 deprecation of the contempt that is thrown on it by some modern 

 writers. The theory is to the effect that the butterfly exists in the 

 caterpillar. Swammerdam shows that at the end of larval life, the 

 butterfly, i.e., its wings, antennte, legs. Sec, can be demonstrated by 

 proper management and dissection. He says that the demonstration 

 is easier at this period, but that if his means of observation were more 

 perfect, it could probably be done at earlier periods of larval life. 



Now Swammerdam was a most excellent observer and a man of 

 great genius as a naturalist. Yet those who make game of his theory 

 represent him (and Reaumur, who followed him) as fool enough to 

 ])elieve that the butterfly he demonstrated was as perfect as the 

 ordinary imago, and that the one that might be demonstrated in the 

 younger larva was equally perfect and advanced. He clearly thought 

 it was not so perfectly formed, or he would not liave postulated more 

 effective means of research to demonstrate it. 



The more powerful instruments and means of research that we now 

 possess have really demonstrated the actual truth of Swammerdam's 

 theory. The butterfly does exist in the young larva, and in many 

 respects as a something apart from the larva. All the parts of the 

 butterfly that do not already exist as larval parts are nevei-theless 

 there, as embryonal cells, each group for each part or organ in its 



