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EDITORIAL GLEANINGS. 
*¢ Mimicry,” of which we hear so much, and know s0 little; a theory 
well substantiated by facts, but too often scandalized by loose suggestions 
and more or less ingenious guesses; a doctrine somewhat neglected by 
zoologists, and far too much in the hands of the evolutionary camp 
followers,—=still demands, in very many details, verification by experiment. 
Mr. Frank Finn, the Deputy-Superintendent of the Indian Museum, 
Calcutta, has, since 1894, undertaken this work in the province in which 
he now resides, and has published the results of thorough and well 
designed experiments in a series of papers (i.—iv.) in the ‘Journal’ of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal. The details of these experiments, carefully 
studied, will serve to qualify much current misconception; at the same 
time the results are not negative, but, on the whole, confirmative. In 
butterflies the Danaine are generally considered as highly protected. 
With birds, Mr. Finn tells us:—‘‘The common Babblers (Crateropus 
canorus) ate the Danaine butterflies readily enough in the absence of 
others, but when offered a choice showed their dislike of these ‘ protected ’ 
forms by avoiding them. This avoidance was much more marked when 
the birds were at liberty, though even so a few of the objectionable butter- 
flies were eaten.” ‘In several cases I saw the birds apparently deceived 
by mimicking butterflies. The common Babbler was deceived by Nephe- 
ronia hippia, and Liothrix by Hypolimnas misippus. The latter bird saw 
through the disguise of the mimetic Papilio polites, which, however, was 
sufficient to deceive the Bhimraj and King Crow. I doubt if any bird was 
impressed by the mimetic appearance of the female Elymnias undularis. 
But this is not a first-rate imitation, and a mimic is put to a very severe 
test when offered to a bird in a cage or aviary.” 
As.a result of the whole series of experiments, the following conclusions 
are reached by Mr. Finn:—‘‘1. ‘That there is a general appetite for 
butterflies among insectivorous birds, even though they are rarely seen 
| when wild to attack them. 2. That many, probably most, species dislike, 
if not intensely, at any rate in comparison with other butterflies, the 
A if warningly-coloured’ Danaine, Acrea viola, Delias eucharis, and Papilio 
| aristolochia ; of these the last being the most distasteful, and the Danaine 
| the least so. 38. That the mimics of these are at any rate relatively 
palatable, and that the mimicry is commonly effectual under natural 
