1892.1 THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 173 



Society of London. In 1887, he had the honour of being placed on 

 'the Council of the Entomological Society. For many years he was 

 President of the Huddersfield Naturahsts' Society. He has also had 

 a long and very active connection with the Yorkshire Naturalists' 

 Union. For ten years he edited (in conjunction with Mr. C. P. 

 Hobkirk) their Magazine, "The Naturalist"; was President of the 

 Entomological Section in 1880, from 1882 to 1885, and again from 

 r8gi to the present time; and in connection with this Union he 

 published his most important work, "A List of the Lepidoptera known 

 to occur in Yorkshire.'" This valuable list was issued in 1883 and 

 forms Vol. II of the "Transactions of the Yorkshire Naturalists' 

 Union." It contains an account of the occurrence in Yorkshire of 

 1349 species, being nearly two-thirds of the British Fauna. The 

 enormous labour entailed in its compilation can only be appreciated 

 by those who have attempted similar work, while the care exercised 

 is evidenced by the fact that no errors have been pointed out, even 

 in this extensive list. 



Mr. Porritt has been for many years one of the most skilful in 

 raising Lepidoptera from the egg. Descriptions from his pen, of 

 larvse little or unknown to science, are scattered through the various 

 magazines. When the Ray, Society commenced to publish Buckler's 

 figures of larvae of British Lepidoptera, the Rev. John Hellins, who 

 had worked in conjunction with M-r-.. Buckler, undertook to supply, as 

 far as possible, descriptions of such larvse as had been figured, but of 

 which Mr. Buckler had left no verbal account, or but an imperfect 

 one. Mr. Hellins died when only the second volume was completed, 

 and Mr. Porritt was the first person asked by Mr. Stainton to 

 continue the work; it is greatly to be regretted that he coul I not 

 see his way clear to undertake it, for subsequent volumes have been 

 issued without any of these supplementary descriptions. 



Mr. Porritt has also been very fortunate in discovering varieties. 

 A very marked form of C. suifuiuata which, he took at Huddeisfield 

 has been named Por/'////? in his honour. He also was the first to call 

 attention to the melanic races of Y . cliitata and other species. More 

 recently he turned up at Huddersfield a wonderfully dark race of A . 

 jnendica, to which the Entoniological Society devoted a plate, in their 

 "Transactions" for i88g. In 1887 he discovered, also at Hudderifield, 

 a perfectly melanic form (inky black) of Boannia vepaitdata, quite 

 different from any of the previously described forms. A black P. 

 flavicincia also fell to his lot, being taken in his own garden. Mr. 

 Porritt believes that local climatic conditions ha\ (^ o[)(;rat(Ai to }M\>(lace 

 so many melanic furms there. 



