14a 



spring, and then by a summer and early autumn remarkable for excess of 

 rain and deficiency of heat. 



The first published notice in England of the extraordinary numbers on the 

 continent was that which appeared in the " Times," of the 13th June, 1879, 

 to the following effect : — " A strange occurrence is reported frOm the Wet- 

 zikon, Canton Zurich. On Saturday, the Commune was invaded by an 

 immense swarm of butterflies, a kilometre (five-eights of an English mile) 

 wide, and so long that the procession took two hours to pass. They were 

 of the kind known in Switzerland as Distelfalter, which feed on nettles 

 and thistles. They flew from two to ten metres above the ground, and went 

 off in a north-westerly direction." 



A swarm, starting from North Africa, was observed at Algiers as early as 

 15th to 20th of April, travelling in a north-easterly direction ; it reached the 

 neighbourhoods of Valencia and Barcelona by April 26th to 30th ; spread 

 over Spain, touching the Balearic Isles from May 1st to 3rd, and crossed the 

 Eastern Pyrenees on May 26th and 27th. Another column crossed the 

 Mediterranean to Sicily, and spread itself northwards over Italy in June; it 

 then spread over south-eastern France, Switzerland, and Austria, and on 

 the morning of June 5th, thousands of living specimens were found on the 

 snow at the Hospice of St. Gothard. It then spread over France, Germany, 

 and Belgium, reaching Strasburgh as early as June 3rd to 9th, Bisheim in 

 Alsace on June 8th, Angers and Kennes on June 10. Paris and its environs 

 were not apparently reached till June 15th. In " Le Naturaliste," for July 

 1st, we read that at Sevres, near Paris, on June 15th, all day- long, great 

 swarms appeared flying from S.S.E. towards N.N.W., the wind being S.S.W. 

 At Strasbourg, from the 3rd to the 9th of June, a similar occurrence was 

 observed, the insect flying rapidly in innumerable quantities towards the 

 north, and even in rainy weather. At Bisheim, on June 7th, and also at 

 Kehl, on the same day, myriads flew in the afternoon, at the former place from 

 the S.W., at the latter from the S.E., so that it is considered the columns 

 were not identical. At Angers a similar thing was observed on June 10th, 

 the direction being from E. to W., against the wind, which was not of much 

 force. It was estimated that the number passing along a single street in one 

 hour was from 40,000 to 50,000. From Montpellier, Albi, and other places 

 in the south, analogous cases are recorded. Near Geneva, the swarm is said 

 to have obscured the sun for several minutes. At Rennes, on June 10th, 

 incalculable numbers flew from S, to N. with great rapidity; at 2 p.m. 

 on that day the wind changed, and the direction of flight was altered towards 

 the W. Sometimes from 20 to 30 passed in a minute, continuing for some 

 time at the same rate. 



