NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 329 



Vanessa c-album. — Mrs. E. S. Hutchinson (ante, p. 312) claims to 

 have first discovered the light form of this butterfly in England. With 

 due respect permit me to say that I never attempted to claim this dis- 

 covery. What I do profess to have discovered is that it only occurs 

 as an aberration of the first generation in the season in this country. 

 In conformity with the law of priority in nomenclature I am quite 

 willing to substitute the name of ^^ hutchinsonii " for that of ^Hiitescens," 

 if your correspondent will kindly inform me where a definition of the 

 form under that cognomen was published, and if it is one of the 

 magazines or works recognised by the editors of the ' Zoological 

 Eecord.' With regard to the results obtained by breeding the larvae 

 of this insect in captivity, they prove nothing ; and Mrs. Hutchinson 

 appears to miss the most important point, in referring to the same, in 

 her omission to mention the environment of the caterpillars, whether 

 they were reared indoors or out of doors, and what was the temperature 

 previous to the emergence of the imago. It is well known that very 

 different results can be obtained by rearing Lepidoptera under artificial 

 conditions to what is the case in a state of nature. In support of this 

 I may say that a larger proportion of the light form of this butterfly 

 are produced in captivity than at large in a state of freedom, as I have 

 had ample opportunity of proving. What I should much like to know 

 from your correspondent is the relative proportions between the two 

 forms occurring in a state of nature each season for a number of 

 years back, and the climatological conditions prevailing at the same 

 time. — W. Harcoukt-Bath. 



Uniformity in Pinning and Setting Lepidoptera. — In the course of 

 this interesting discussion in seems surprising that no one has sug- 

 gested as a remedy for the existing state of things the disestablishment 

 of the pin in its present form. However well pinned an insect may 

 be, it must be admitted that it would look far better if there were no 

 pin visible at all. As a substitute I would suggest the adoption of a 

 small double prong, something in the shape of a reaping-hook ; the 

 part representing the handle would end in a point, and would stand 

 vertically in the cork ; from this would diverge two arms like those of 

 a capital Y ; these would each curve over until they ended in a hori- 

 zontal direction in two points, which would be inserted at the side of 

 the thorax, underneath where the wings join it, and thus in the set 

 specimen the apparatus would be totally out of sight. The advantages 

 of some such contrivance as that which is here rather lamely described 

 would be considerable. In the first place, the beauty of the thorax 

 in many species would not be spoilt as is at present inevitably the 

 case ; secondly, the specimens would be well raised above the paper 

 and out of the way of mites, while at the same time they would not 

 stand so high as to give what most English collectors consider the 

 ugly effect of high- setting ; besides this the absence of a pin through 

 the thorax would give a more natural effect to a set specimen. Set- 

 ting might with this arrangement at first present difficulties, but 

 they would probably not be insuperable. Insects would be moved 

 by clasping the upright part of the apparatus with forceps. The 

 size of the new pins could be regulated in the way suggested by Mr. 

 Tunstall in the last number, though it would probably be best to 



