Goss : Lyc^na Aeion^ on the Cotswolds. 



165 



me that Avion was not uncommon, and where Acis had several times 

 been taken. The locality to which 1 had been directed was situate at 

 the top of a steep hill, the lower portion of which was thickly wooded 

 with beech. The hill top commanded a most extensive view of the 

 surrounding country, including the vale and estuary of the Severn, 

 with the Forest of Dean in the north-west. The locality looked most 

 promising, but not a single specimen of Arion did I see there during 

 the three hours which I spent in it. L. Alsus wsis extremely abundant, 

 indeed far more so than I have ever seen it on the chalk, either in 

 Kent, Sussex, or the Isle of Wight. Adonis and Agestis also 

 occurred, the latter in some plenty, though less abundantly than 

 Alsus. I had always associated Alsus and Adonis, especially the 

 latter, with the chalk ; and I was surprised to find them occurring 

 abundantly in this locality, situated on the upper lias formation, with 

 no chalk nearer than the Marlborough Downs, many miles to the 

 eastward. Finding but little to interest me in the old quarries on 

 the hillside, I descended into the woods, where Chelonia plantaginis 

 was flying swiftly about in the open places. In addition to this 

 species the following were observed : Platypteryx unguicula, Setina 

 irrorella, JEpkgra trilinearia, Minoa euphorhiata^ and Eupithecia exiguata, 

 besides those species of universal distribution which it is unnecessary 

 to particularise. 



In the evening I returned to head-quarters, having spent a very 

 enjoyable, though, from a collector's point of view, a somewhat 

 unprofitable day. 



With the exception of the very local species, to see and capture 

 which had been the main object of my expedition, there were but few 

 good species to be found in the district, at any rate at that time of 

 year, so partly for this reason and partly because I was anxious to be 

 in the New Forest before the end of the month, I left for London 

 early the next morning. After three hours' ride in the express I 

 arrived at Paddington a little after twelve o'clock, and having 

 deposited my treasures in safety at home, was soon on the South 

 Western Railway en route for Lyndhurst. 



The Avenue, Surbiton Hill, Surrey, 12th Feb., 1878. 



THE VALUE OF THE STUDY OF ENTOMOLOGY.* 



By W. E. Sharp. 



It will be universally admitted that the true functions of a local 

 Natural Science Society are the investigation of the phenomena of 

 nature as exemplified in its special district. We may, I think, con- 



*Paper read before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, Nov. 26, 1877. 



