CHRYSOPHANUS DISPAR. 427 



chance aberrations in all localities where the species occurs under other 

 variations. But it is unfortunate from the speculator's point of view, 

 for now he cannot insist that the var. rutiltis, which are occasionally 

 offered for sale as British, are not in reality so. Two undoubted var. 

 rutilus were offered for sale as British, in the auction rooms, and, we 

 believe, purchased as such, on April 13th, 1896, and pace Lang, 

 our own powers of discrimination are not at all equal to the task 

 of separating some undoubted British dispar from undoubted 

 Continental rutilus. Mr. Bethune- Baker's remarks are quoted 

 in extenso in an earlier part of this paper. There are still 

 some hundreds of British C. dispar in existence, but every year 

 lessens the number. Accident, and the falling of old cabinets 

 into a neglected condition, are the two main causes of the reduced 

 numbers. Hence the price of C. dispar will always be on the up- 

 grade. When Ave commenced to collect, in 1871, no dealer's list 

 priced the finest 0. dispar at more than 15s., and anything over a 

 pound -for a good specimen was looked upon as exorbitant. Slowly 

 and surely as the number of specimens has decreased, and the 

 number of buyers has increased, the price has steadily advanced, 

 until now £5 5s. for a really fine male, and £5 10s. for a really fine 

 female, can be looked upon as ordinary market prices. In the sale 

 of the "Burney" collection, in 1896, males touched £6 10s. and 

 £5 15s., whilst females reached £6 10s., £6, and £5 15s. In the 

 "Fry" collection, in 1896, 8 <? s produced £36, and 6 ?s £30 5s., 

 whilst £6 15s., £6 6s., and £6 per specimen were reached ; also in 

 1896, a fine 2 in the " Tugwell " collection went for £6, and a 

 large $ produced £7 7s. ; a female aberration of G. dispar in the 

 " Howard Vaughan " collection for £6 10s. In the " Briggs' " 

 collection, sold in 1896, the highest prices were, for a $ £5 10s., for a 

 2 £5, whilst a record prica of £8 8s. was produced by a specially 

 fine example. In the "Stevens" collection, sold 1900, 14 examples 

 produced £71 15s, the lowest price being £2 for a dwarf $ , whilst a 

 fine example of the same sex brought £8, other examples produced 

 £6, £5 15s., £6 5s., £6. In the " Crowley " collection, sold 1902, 

 the highest price for $ s was £5 10s., and for 2 s £6 and £7 per 

 specimen. In the " Mason " collection, sold 1905, 16 specimens 

 produced £80 6s., the highest price being £8 for a fine ? in which the 

 basal spots of the forewings were united. High as these prices are, 

 they are nothing to what may be expected in the not very distant 

 future, when "coppers" may produce figures more nearly approach- 

 ing the prices that have been given for Great Auk's eggs. To anyone 

 who can see the humorous side of things there is much to be 

 amused at when the sale of C. dispar is on. There is the pro- 

 fessional, who will give a couple of guineas for any specimen, in the 

 poorest condition, if perfect ; but who will not look at the most 

 brilliant example if it has an antenna missing. He knows his 

 market, and he never buys the latter. Then there is the keen 

 amateur, w T ho bides his time, watches the sale of the less important 

 collections, and tells you he has a series of 10 or 12 specimens, for 

 which he has not paid more than £2 or £3 each, and which are quite 

 as fine and perfect as specimens which, in better known and better 

 advertised collections, have produced about £5. Then there is the wealthy 

 collector, who must have the specimen, and simply runs all opposition 



