4 



AFRICAN MIMETIC BUTTERLFIES 



published figures. It was not deemed necessary to have a special map produced for the com- 

 paratively small edition of this work. That bound up with the volume is the most recently 

 pubhshed map of the African Continent, and though necessarily on a small scale will probably 

 be found to indicate the position of most of the locahties to which reference is made in the text. 



Whatever deficiencies the work may present are certainly not due to lack of assistance. 

 Its preparation has necessitated much correspondence with naturalists, both at home and 

 abroad, and I feel that I cannot sufficiently express my indebtedness to all those who have 

 with ready generosity placed all their resources at my disposal. It is almost impossible 

 to mention in detail the many friends who have thus aided my scheme. Especially I would 

 express my thanks to Dr. F. A. Dixey, Mr. H. H. Druce, Dr. Karl Jordan, Dr. G. B. Longstaff, 

 Mr. G. A. K. Marshall, Mr. S. A. Neave, Mr. G. W. Smith, Commander J. J. Walker, and 

 Colonel Yerbury, for valuable advice and assistance. My acknowledgements are due to 

 Professor Aurivillius for permission to copy the figure of Mimacraea fulvaria, ? and to the 

 publishers of Haase's ' Researches in Mimicry ' for the Hke permission in reference to their 

 figures of P. dardanus antinorii, forms ruspinae and niavioides. I would express my appre- 

 ciation of the painstaking manner in which Messrs. West, Newman & Co. have repro- 

 duced my drawings. Throughout the work they have courteously comphed with every 

 suggestion which could make for the improvement of the plates, with results which will, 

 I trust, be considered eminently satisfactory. Lastly, there are two kind friends whose 

 help I feel scarcely able to acknowledge in words. One is Mr. Roland Trimen, who in 

 addition to affording me every encouragement since the inception of the work, has read 

 through the whole of the original manuscript and offered valuable suggestions on many 

 important points. Only those who have had experience of the unique knowledge possessed 

 by the eminent author of ' South African Butterflies ' can appreciate the advantage of such 

 assistance to a much younger worker. The second is Professor E. B. Poulton. Few works 

 on butterflies, and certainly none in connexion with mimicry, could be completed without 

 reference to the many papers and essays which have emanated from his pen. Not only 

 did Professor Poulton cheerfully grant me permission to make use of his own works on the 

 subject, but he also afforded me every facility for access to the magnificent collections 

 in the Hope Department at Oxford for the purposes of study and the drawing of the plates. 

 In the midst of his strenuous round of work his invaluable advice and help have been always 

 at my disposal, and it is with the deepest appreciation that I recall his many kindnesses. 



For the rest, I commend the volume to those who have the taste and opportunity for 

 pursuing an interesting study. To those who are unaccustomed to look to natural forces 

 for instruction in the problems of life, the question of whether or in what manner so humble 

 a creature as a butterfly may survive can seem but of small account. I hold, however, 

 that no particle of knowledge is devoid of importance. Compared with the venerable 

 ancestry of many even now surviving forms of life, Man is of very recent development. 

 His greatest possession, the power of abstract thought, enables him to formulate theories 

 and apply them to the problems with which he finds himself surrounded. Just as his 

 physical attributes have been developed by a process of gradual evolution, so there must also 

 be a mental or psychic evolution. It were rash to suggest a limit to the possibilities of 

 scientific progress, and even the pattern of a butterfly's wing may be a not unworthy detail 

 of the means whereby we may ultimately attain to that perfection of knowledge which shall 

 one day reveal to us our own destiny. 



