40 



Mr. Tug well said that Mr. Sidney Webb, of Dover, had 

 in his cabinet British specimens of perochraria which had been 

 taken by the late Mr. Weston near Merstham, Surrey. 



Mr. R. Adkin exhibited specimens of Notodonta ziczac, 

 L., Dianthcecia capsophila, Dup., Aplecta prasina, Fb,, and 

 Eupithecia pumilata, Hb,,from Co. Cork, with examples of each 

 of the species from the London district for comparison ; and 

 pointed out that in all those from Ireland the markings were 

 less clearly defined, and the general appearance of the insects 

 duller and more suffused, than in the English examples. 



Mr. Tugwell exhibited a dwarfed form of Lyccena icarus, 

 Rott, and English and Scotch forms of L. icarus. 



Dr. Percy Rendall exhibited land and fresh-water shells, 

 including Helix aculeata, Mull., H. pisana, Mull., H. virgata, 

 Da Costa, Pupa umbilicata> Drap., etc. 



Mr. Cockerell exhibited Succinea putris, L., subsp. S.par- 

 vula, Drouet, a small species of the "putris" section of the 

 genus, not previously recorded as British, collected by Mr. J. 

 H. James at St. Columb, Porth, Cornwall ; also Pisidium 

 roseunty Scholtz, from Putney, which he stated was not sup- 

 posed to be a rare species, although not generally recognised 

 when met with. 



Mr. J. Jenner Weir read the following paper on 

 " Melanism." 



rt I have read and carefully studied Mr. Dobree's very 

 instructive paper on this subject, which appeared in the Feb- 

 ruary number of the ' Entomologist,' pp. 25-28. 



" So far as my limited knowledge extends, there is no con- 

 nection between the tendency to melanic variation in Lepi- 

 doptera and the high latitude they may have been produced 

 in ; but, on the contrary, I find that, so far as the Lepidoptera 

 of Russia in Europe are concerned, of the 300 species I have 

 received from the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg, from the late 

 Mr. Field and Mr. Ersthoff, none show the slightest melanism. 



" I am not, however, disposed to think that this fact 

 'destroys Lord Walsingharn's latest and ingenious theory on 

 this subject,' as Mr. Dobree states, but modifies it, and con- 



