54 



England is by far the most unprofitable portion of our 

 island, unless indeed I am much, mistaken, for insect 

 ascendency. I have made some remarks on this subject 

 in the ' Zoologist/ — from which I extract the following : 

 " Unlike the easy collecting to which we are accustomed 

 in the more favoured East, miles of unprofitable country 

 have often to be gone over, be it swampy moorland or 

 iron-bound coast, where scarcely an insect is to be seen ; 

 or, at any rate, where the few which exist are so ordi- 

 nary, and so sparingly dispersed, as to be scarcely worth 

 the labour of obtaining them, — more especially since the 

 identical species are many of them to be met with in 

 the utmost profusion in more central, or eastern districts. 

 Whether it be the moisture of the climate, or the vio- 

 lence of the south-west winds, which (continually sweep- 

 ing, as they do, over the high central mass of Devon- 

 shire and the bleak, barren downs of Cornwall) present 

 as great an obstacle to the development of animal, as 

 they clearly do of vegetable life, I will not venture to 

 suggest ; yet certain it is, from observation, that insects 

 not only become fewer in number in proportion as they 

 are exposed to these external agencies of wind and water ; 

 but likewise, in many instances, diminish so consider- 

 ably in stature as to be scarcely reconcileable with their 

 normal types*.^^ 



There can be no doubt that islands are, for the most 

 part, more unproductive (even in proportion) than con- 

 tinents ; and that, the smaller the area, the less favour- 

 * Zoologist, X. 3616. 



