5628 Insects. 



obtain any new or rare species which may be discovered. Certain dealers, taking 

 advantage of this, have imported Continental specimens by wholesale, and passed them 

 off as British to those who were foolish enough to place confidence in their assertions. 

 Most of the species which are rare here may be purchased upon the Continent for 

 threepence each, or, at the most, sixpence ; and hundreds of specimens were set in the 

 British style upon the Continent last year for a dealer who is constantly advertising 

 his rarities. The parallel drawn by Mr. Bree between a collection of British insects 

 and a collection of birds' eggs will not hold good : a large proportion of the birds 

 which annually visit us at the period of the equatorial migration never breed here, and 

 it is manifestly impossible to obtain eggs of those species which were actually deposited 

 in Britain, and of course these must be obtained from their breeding stations ; with 

 insects the case is totally different. — Henry Doubleday ; Epping, April 14, 1857. 



The new Noctua. — According to promise, I now proceed to give you a few 

 particulars concerning the reputed new Noctua at Brighton, and, although at the 

 risk of being tedious, perhaps 1 had better state the facts precisely as they came 

 under my observation. On looking over the collection of the Rev. J. Image one day, 

 I saw an insect which at once engaged my attention ; after a short examination 

 I pronounced it to be a species of Xanthia new to this country, and evidently 

 closely allied to gilvago : on inquiry I found that this insect was taken, or said 

 to be taken, by George Smith (a dealer, living at 8, King Street, in this town), 

 on the 4th or 6th of October last (at this moment I forget the precise day), 

 on the open Downs near Brighton. Mr. Image's attention was called to the insect in 

 this way : — Hemmings saw it in Smith's possession, and thought it was C. Xerampe- 

 lina; knowing that Mr. Image wanted that species, he at once informed that gentle- 

 man that Smith had a specimen for sale. Mr. Image called on Smith, and saw this 

 insect on the setting-board, but, finding it was not Xerampelina he refused to purchase 

 it. Hemmings again called on Mr. Image, and said, "if this insect was not 

 Xerampelina it was something as good," and Mr. Image then went and bought it. 

 After it was in the hands of Mr. Image Hemmings again saw it, and he then said he 

 had made a mistake, and it was only a variety of Cerago : there the matter ended, and 

 the insect had been quietly stowed away for some months when I saw it. Mr. Image 

 was under the impression that Hemmings saw the insect alive; if such was the fact 

 there would have been an end of all dispute, for Hemmings was most scrupulous in 

 keeping clear of foreign insects. Assuming that Hemmings did see this creature 

 alive, I packed it up and sent it to that prince of entomologists, Mr. H. Doubleday, 

 for identification. In my letter I stated the facts of the case, and also that I did not 

 place the slightest reliance on anything Smith said, but that I risked the claim of 

 this insect to a place in the British list entirely on the supposition that Hemmings 

 saw it alive. Well, with his usual kindness, Mr. Doubleday speedily replied that this 

 insect was Xanthia ocellaris, a species closely allied to gilvago : I was pleased at my 

 opinion being verified by such an authority; then followed a paragraph that was "a 

 regular settler," viz. " You appear to be quite certain that this insect was captured 

 near Brighton, or I should have said unhesitatingly that it was a foreign specimen: 

 it precisely agrees with several I have seen in London, French attempts at the 

 English mode of setting." I may here remark that this insect is set in a most 

 peculiar manner, and totally different from Smith's usual style of setting. Mr. Image 

 saw this insect on Smith's setting-board; but that amounts to nothing. — H. Cooke; 

 8, Pelhum Terrace, Brighton, April 4, 1857. 



