44 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



memoralis exhibits rather a liking for damp clayey soils, although perhaps 

 not so markedly as does H. hortensis. Secondly, it is not exclusively vege- 

 tarian in its diet, for specimens I have in confinement will eat meat. Like 

 other snails it buries itself in the earth for some days when desirous of in- 

 creasing the size of its shell. I seems susceptible of cold, for in winter time 

 it covers its mouth with a double layer of hardened mucous. 

 Mill Road, Cambridge . 



(To be continued.) 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 

 " The Larvse of the British Butterflies and Moths. By (the late) 

 W. BUCKLER, edited by H. T. STAINTON, F.R.S. 

 Vol. I.— The Butterflies." 



Being the Ray Society Volume for 1885. 



For more than a quarter of a century before his death, Mr. Buckler had 

 been figuring and describing the larvse of the British Lepidoptera. A minia- 

 ture painter by profession, and an Entomologist by taste, there was here a 

 happy combination of circumstances, tending to the desired end. When it 

 became generally known that Mr. Buckler was "painting the portraits" of 

 larvse of British Lepidoptera, entomologists generally lent their aid, and as 

 the number unfigured became reduced, the more experienced collectors made 

 special efforts to obtain for him those, that from their rarity or retiring habits 

 were seldom seen. Many unknown larvse were thus discovered, and still more 

 numerous were those whose descriptions were previously to be found only in 

 the writings of foreign entomologists, which Mr. Buckler was the first 

 English observer to rear. Nor was he content with what would have satis- 

 fied many. Unless he succeeded in rearing the perfect insect he did not con- 

 sider he had done enough, and would try again and again until that was 

 accomplished. As he obtained greater experience in observing, his descrip- 

 tions became longer, but unlike others who have published lengthy descrip- 

 tions of larvse, Mr. Buckler seemed to excel in word-painting, and never 

 lost the sense in a multitude of words. Along with him, the Rev. John 

 Hellins, of Exeter, laboured, the two working " together more than is ordi- 

 narily the case/' nothing being published by either without the critical 

 scrutiny of the other. With the descriptive work of these gentlemen, readers 

 of the Entomologists Monthly Magazine have long been familiar, and when 

 Mr. Buckler's unexpected decease was announced, there was some fear lest his 

 valued labours in depicting the larvse might be lost to the entomological 

 world. Fortunately, at this juncture, the Kay Society stepped in, purchased 



