254 [November, 



of the specimens due to their having been prummed on card, and partly by his 

 assuming tliat the female individual was the same species as the three males 

 sent to him. In spite of the great reliance I place on determinations made by 

 the describer, I think H, arnoldi will be found to be based on slightly aberrant 

 S d of fiu'mitissiinus and a minute and somewhat aberrant $ nitidmsculus. — 

 Iv. C. L. Perkins, Paignton : September SOth, 1918 



W. F. de Vismes Kane, 31. A., MM.l.A., F.KS.— On April 18th last this 

 distinguished Irish entomologist and naturalist passed away at his seat, 

 Drumreaske House, County Monaghan, in his 79th year. 



De Vismes Kane was born near Exmouth, Devon, in 1840, and came of 

 ancient Irish and French lineage. He was educated at Cheltenham College 

 ar.d at Trinity College, Dublin. Inheriting property near Monaghan, he pur- 

 chased the neighbouring demesne of Drumreaske House, and settled there. 

 But being fond of the sea and of yachting, he spent his earlier years between 

 that place and Monkstown, in Dublin Bay. As a boy he made collections of 

 insects, etc., and when he grew up he began to devote himself seriously to 

 natural history studies. Although his interests were wide, his favourite 

 subject was Entomology, in which he became an authority on the Lepidoptera. 



Travel and residence during several years upon the Continent, nece.ssitg,ted 

 by ill-health, gave great opportunities for studying the European Rhopalocera. 

 Realising the want of a handy text-book on the subject, he conceived and 

 compiled his " Handbook of the Butterflies of Europe,'' published in 1885' 

 This excellent and useful 8vo volume for the traveller-naturalist contains a 

 condensed description of all the European species on the lines of " Stainton's 

 Manual," with the addition of localities, and good illustrations by the then 

 new process of isochromatic photography. 



Returning to Ireland he enthusiastically studied the Lepidoptera of his 

 native land. On his frequent yachting excursions round the west coast, he 

 visited many out-of-the-way districts and islands and made numerous 

 interesting captures and discoveries, including a remarkable melanic race 

 of Camptogramma hilineata from the Blasquets. Based upon these researches 

 he contributed some forty papers to the current Entomological magazines, as 

 well as to the " Irish Naturalist " and the " Proceedings of the Royal Irish 

 Academy." Eventually he did a notable service to science by publishing in 

 1901 his " Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland." This work involved a 

 huge amount of correspondence and investigation, for he scrupulously verified 

 all important records by personal inspection. In 1904 he presented his collec- 

 tion of Lepidoptera, containing many remarkable local varieties, to the National 

 Museum at Dublin. 



But besides Entomology, de Vismes Kane had many other pursuits. As 

 a keen sportsman and fisherman, he had good opportunities for field-work, and 

 he published in several papers valuable observations upon the vertebrate fauna 

 of Ireland. Dredging in the great loughs was a favourite occupation, and he 

 niade many notable studies and discoveries among the Entomostraca, Cladocei-a, 



