258 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



is without eyed spots, or has mere traces of 

 them, it is called Isis, and has been found 

 in the extreme north of Scotland. Why it 

 is omitted from the list we cannot imagine. 



Mr. South heads his list of excluded 

 species, " Casual or Accidental Visitors." 

 This certainly implies that all the species 

 named in it have occurred in Britain. 

 Among the uumber we find Erebia ligea, 

 which was long ago reported from the Isle 

 of Arran, but we have always understood 

 that the record was a mistake and that 

 only Bla/ndina (JEthiops) had really been 

 been taken. Certainly an Erebicu is a very 

 unlikely insect to migrate, and not very 

 likely to be exterminated. 



But with all its faults the list is an 

 interesting contribution to Entomological 

 literature, and we doubt not but many of 

 the alterations of arrangement will be 

 accepted in the course of time ; and possibly 

 when a revised edition has eliminated the 

 bulk of the errors, it may be accepted as a 

 standard. We know something of the 

 difficulties of compiling such a work as 

 this, and how easily errors creep in notwith- 

 standing every care is exercised, and we 

 would give Mr. South every credit for what 

 he has accomplished. 



While we thus accord considerable merit 

 to the publication, we must say something 

 of the manner in which it is attempted to 

 be forced on the public. Since the death 

 of the late Edward Newman, the Entomolo- 

 gist is understood to be the property of a 

 firm of printers, to whom, of course, it is a 

 mere business speculation, and to whom the 

 increase of its circulation is of more impor- 

 tance than the advancement of entomologi- 

 cal science. We are free to admit that it 

 has considerably improved under its present 

 management ; but it is not the leading ento- 

 mological journal, nor do the bulk of the 

 leading British entomologists contribute to 

 it ; and it is necessary to consider the 

 "business element" in the matter before 



we can comprehend the motives that have 

 prompted the announcement that at the 

 end of the current volume, both in the pages 

 of the magazine and in those set apart for 

 exchanges, the new nomenclature must be 

 used. The only reason that we can suggest 

 for this course is a desire to force the sale 

 of the List. If worthy of acceptance it 

 would have made its own way as Double- 

 day's did ; if unworthy, no amount of com- 

 pulsion and high-handedness will help it on. 

 The action of the proprietors of the Entomo- 

 logist will raise up an antagonism to it that 

 would never otherwise have existed. Already 

 the metropolitan societies are protesting and 

 condemning both the list and the attempt 

 to force it on the public. That the nomen- 

 clature will not be universally adopted is 

 certain — at all events, at present — and if 

 partially adopted we will be in a worse 

 state of confusion than that from which 

 Mr. Doubleday rescued us. But we do not 

 see how the proprietors of the Entomologist 

 themselves are to ensure the carrying out 

 of their intentions. In the time of the late 

 proprietor, the use of the generic initial was 

 abandoned in the exchange column. What 

 will be done if a collector ofters Polyodon in 

 exchange ? Should the insect he offers be 

 that known as Cloantha perspicillaris, which 

 it is now proposed to call 0. polyodon, it will 

 be all right enough ; but if the advertiser 

 be a beginner, innocent of all knowledge of 

 synomymic lists, or rarity of species, who 

 has only a few Xylophasia polyodon, in dup- 

 licate, and followers of the new list hunt up 

 their rarity box, and send off some of their 

 best species, to get in return our ubiquitous 

 friend, the Entomologist and the New List 

 will come in for a good share of left-handed 

 blessings. The same blunder might occur 

 in the pages of the magazine. A beginner 

 takes an insect in some numbers, that a 

 friend tells him is polyodon (and we cannot 

 give up in a moment the names we are 

 accustomed to use, even at the bidding of 



