12 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. 



polished surfaces of the sides and bottom of the dish, 

 had actually baked my brood of Vanessa Io. The 

 little caterpillars, or rather their shrunk and 

 shrivelled remains, lay, mere dried skins, at the 

 bottom of the vessel, which I intended should have 

 been to them a luxurious home. 



My subsequent efforts were more successful; 

 but the best rearing box of a rude kind that I ever 

 saw was one in the garden of Mr. II. Doubleday, of 

 Epping, one of our best known and most successful 

 collectors. It was a strongly made box, about two 

 feet long, one foot broad, and perhaps eighteen inches 

 deep ; being filled about half-way up with ordinary 

 garden mould, and having a layer of broken bricks, 

 etc., underneath, to secure drainage. The lid was 

 formed of close wire- work, and the box was sunk in 

 the ground to about half its own depth, with the view 

 of preserving a certain degree of moisture in the 

 mould contained within. The position in which 

 the box was sunk was also well considered, inas- 

 much as it was sheltered by a thick hedge, as well 

 from too much sun as from cold winds. In this 

 box, at the time I saw it, many magnificent cater- 

 pillars were feeding, each upon its own particular 

 kind of foliage, branches of which were kept fresh 

 in water. 



