The imm umuim: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 127. APEIL 15th, 1882. Yol. 3. 



IMPOSITION. 



^ ^ TT must be British/' remarked 

 ' a collector to us one day, 



when showing us a specimen of Niode, 

 before that successful fraud had been 

 exposed. " It must be British, I gave 

 I two pounds for it.'' His idea evidently 

 ! was that the high price proved its 

 ; British nationality, and it is to be 

 I feared this opinion obtains rather 

 : largely among collectors, some of 

 whom seem to be overburdened with 

 money. There can be no doubt that 

 that the large sums wealthy collectors 

 are willing to pay for a rare British 

 insect, has tempted many a one to 

 defraud them. We were offered three 

 specimens of Sparganii the other day. 

 Now, British Sparganii at present, are 

 in but few hands, and we naturally 

 asked something of their history. 

 " They were found in the collection of 

 Mr. So and So, mixed with lutosa,'' 

 was the reply. It is quite possible 

 that unrecognized specimens of Spar- 

 ganii exist in some collections, as other 

 new species have done before, so there 

 was nothing improbable in the tale ; 

 but the insects in question were so 



fine and fresh, so clear of grease, and 

 the pins so clean and new looking that 

 we could not fancy the account was 

 correct, and declined the specimens 

 with thanks. The Niohe fraud was, 

 perhaps, the most successful of all that 

 have been attempted. Mr. Doubleday, 

 Mr. Stevens, Mr. Newman, and others, 

 were taken in, and their names were of 

 great use to the swindlers. A full 

 account of the affair will be found in 

 Volume I. page 395. Their success 

 with this insect emboldened them to 

 offer others, and Daplidice and even 

 Podalirius were reported to have been 

 freely taken. Now, undoubtedly, a 

 genuine rarity is worth what it will 

 bring, but high prices are a great 

 temptation to the needy and dishonest. 

 But it is not only by open fraud that 

 imposition may be practised. The 

 history of P. alphia would be an in- 

 teresting little tale if it could all be 

 told. The early captures of the species 

 were but two, we believe. One in 

 1839, and a second in 185 !<. Mr. 

 Carrington went to Perthshire to look 

 for it, and after a long hunt he took a 

 single specimen, which he recorded in 



