1889.] 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



"5 



number of my larvae were full-fed when found. So that these could 

 not have been dwarfed by breeding, and the whole of them were full- 

 fed under especially favourable circumstances. Then again, it may 

 be argued that forcing may have had a tendency to making them 

 smaller. But this I cannot admit, as once an insect is in pupae it 

 does not grow, i.e. become larger. By undue forcing you may possibly 

 produce undeveloped organs, ova may not be fully formed, as is known 

 to be the case with Acherontia atropos, when forced out in the autumn ; 

 but still the insect is as large as if it had remained in pupa until the 

 spring. 



Not only are the bred specimens of English Galii smaller for this 

 year, but it also holds good in those of any previous season, as anyone 

 may prove by measuring specimens in the collection. Of course I 

 do not for a moment say that every caught specimen must of necessity 

 be a continental bred insect, only that when we get insects of abnor- 

 mal size, we may fairly infer that we have an immigrant. I also think 

 these facts may tend to settle the question of the " blown over theory." 



I do not suggest these large and caught specimens have been 

 brought over from the Continent, only that they are part of a migra- 

 tion ; and to migration, I fully believe we in England are indebted for 

 many other species, but that the climate does not suit D. galii, and 

 which in consequence soon becomes weak and fail to be fully established. 



My best thanks are due to those gentlemen who have so kindly 

 sent me the desired information. 



6, Lewisham Road, Greenwich. 



The Wall-flower (Cheimnthus cheivi.) 

 By J. P. SOUTTER. 



" The Wall-flower — the Wall-flower, how beautiful it blooms ! 

 It gleams above the ruined tower, like sunlight over tombs; 

 It sheds a halo of repose around the wrecks of time — 

 To beauty give the flaunting rose, the wall-flower is sublime. 



Flower of the solitary place ! grey ruins golden crown ! 

 Thou lendest melancholy grace to haunts of old renown ; 

 Thou mantlest o'er the battlement, by strife or storm decayed; 

 And fillest up each envious rent Time's canker-tooth hath made." 



As good old Culpeper would say, in the pre-Linnean era of botany 

 — the wall-flower is so well known as to require no description. And 

 certainly few, if any, of our commonly cultivated flowers are better 



