258 THE YOUNG 



haps not knowing it when we had got 

 it. Now, we all know everything, 

 Ccr sincola and Cucubali are never 

 mixed in our collections. Alsi les and 

 blanda can easily be separated, ai: dEnto- 

 mologistsprofess to discriminate between 

 captured specimens of Psi and Tridens. 

 Even the rarest species have "British" 

 representatives in our collections. 

 Leverrier searching for the unknown 

 planet, and writing to a friend to tell 

 him where to look for it, before he had 

 ever seen it himself, was no; much 

 more of a feat than has been lone in 

 entomology. Mr. Gregson has done a 

 thing or two among the Dia ithcecia. 

 Mr. Carrington went to Perthshire to 

 take Alpina, and took it. TI13 recent 

 discovery of Nonagria sparganu, and 

 many others that might be named, are 

 in their way quite equal to the above 

 named astronomical discovery. How 

 can we wonder then, when men have 

 done things like these, they ara chary 

 of recording that on Tuesday last they 

 found Argynnis Euphrosyne abundant, 

 and that at night Hadena pisi swarmed 

 at sugar. But there was a time when 

 Euphrosyne was perhaps more wel- 

 comed than Laihonia would be to-day, 

 when Hadena pisi was as great an 

 addition to the collection as would be 

 Pachnohia alpina now. The third 

 reason is not such a good one as either 

 of the others, and we are almost 

 ashamed for the brotherhood of the 

 Net and Pin to know that is is too 

 often true- Many collectors do not 

 record their captures, lest others living 

 near them, should share in the good 



NATURALIST. 



things they are getting, or some one 

 from a distance, should pop down upon 

 the spot before they themselves have 

 got hold of every stray specimen. The 

 excessive anxiety that some display to 

 keep all their doings to themselves, is 

 not only not scientific, but it is not 

 creditable. Making a collection is not 

 science, and though it is very pleasant 

 to have a large number of rare dupli- 

 cates in our store boxes, even the 

 system of exchange may be overdone. 

 The collector too, who takes every 

 specimen of a good insect, whether 

 "fine," "fair," or "poor" in con- 

 dition, lest some one else finds out that 

 it occurs there, is worse than the dog in 

 the manger of the old fable. The 

 system too of taking every specimen 

 for " exchange " is a bad one, and may 

 often lead to the extermination of a 

 species. No one intends to exterminate, 

 but it happens sometimes for all that. 

 This greediness f®r specimens had a 

 bad effect as far back as the days of 

 the Intelligencer, for the complaint was 

 made then, that if the capture of a 

 rarity was recorded the fortunate (or 

 unfortunate) captor was deluged with 

 correspondence from specimen hunters 

 who wanted to barter for his prize. 

 We believe, however, that most of that 

 class of collectors have abandoned the 

 pursuit, and we would be glad if 

 the better class would begin again 

 to record their captures, even of species 

 that are rather common. Last year 

 the abundance of certain species was 

 much commented on. How does the 

 matter stand now ? The writer lives 



