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From amongst the many results which I have been 

 long accustomed to associate (whether rightly, so, or not, 

 I leave it for others to decide) with certain special situa- 

 tions, I would draw attention to the singular incon- 

 stancy which numerous insects are hable to when ex- 

 isting an the coast^ — and which frequently causes them 

 to assume an aspect so permanently different from their 

 inland^tjge^, that, without local knowledge to guide us, 

 they might he supposed at first sight to be specifically 

 distinct. Ten years ago I offered a few comments on 

 this fact in the pages of the 'Zoologist'; which, as I 

 have seen no reason subsequently to modify them, I will 

 transcribe at length : — 



" The extraordinary changes which many insects are 

 subject to when occurring near the sea, is a fact worthy 

 of notice, and one which I do not remember to have 

 seen recorded. The strictly maritime species must be 

 left out of the question ; for although many of them are 

 exceedingly variable both in size and colour, still we 

 have no means of ascertaining whether that variation is 

 referable to the locality in which they are placed, — ^for, 

 never being found inland, nobody can have an opportu- 

 nity of asserting that the same changes would not take 

 place, were they to occur in positions far removed from 

 the influence of the sea. When we find, however, the 

 same insects in profusion both inland and on the coast, 

 and observe also numerous and marked deviations from 

 the typical forms peculiar to the latter situation ; then, 

 a priori, we have strong presumptive evidence that the 



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