IN THE TROPICS. 



By E. Dcjkinfield Jojstes, C.E. 



[Read before the Lancashire and Cheshire Entomological Society, 

 May 28th, 1883.] 



If I were asked what is the nearest approach to perfect bliss that it is 

 given to ma.n to enjoy, I should reply, " The sensations of a naturalist 

 on his first entrance into a tropical forest." And especially might this 

 be said of a naturalist whose delight is the study of the insect world, 

 in all branches of biology the riches laid before him are something 

 beyond the conception of the most vivid imagination, and the exquisite 

 beauty and grandeur of the scene have an effect upon his senses that 

 can only be described by the word " enchantment." 



But with the entomologist the general feeling of delight soon gives 

 way to a perfect absorption in his own particular study, and a com- 

 plete forgetfulness of all else. His main difficulty will be to get 

 beyond the outskirts of the forest at all, for every leaf and flower, 

 every stick and stone, attracts his attention and calls for inspection. 

 Indeed it is the outskirts that form the most productive and most 

 interesting portion of the woods, especially in regard to lepidoptera, 

 for the deeper we penetrate into the recesses of the gloomy interior the 

 less do we find of the brilliant life that that order gives to the scene. 

 And in the midst of the giant vegetation the butterflies contine them- 

 selves mostly to the tops of the trees, where their brilliant hues and 

 graceful motions are delightful to look upon, but decidedly tantalizing 

 to the man whose desire is to collect. 



Before we plunge, then, into the stillness of the great primeval 

 forest, let us follow that winding sandy road. which leads through an 

 old clearing, with here and there a patch of maize or field of the 

 graceful mandioca, with now and again a little valley whose clear 

 rivulet ripples happily between the moss-grown stones or glides across 

 the sandy level of the road. Occasionally the road cuts through a 

 spur of the forest that juts out into the open like a little promontory 

 in the sea. And thus we shall have a variety of scene, and a 

 constant recurrence of such spots as the butterflies delight in, and 

 where we may watch and capture to our heart's content. 



The road that I propose to take you along is one of hundreds of 

 such that may be found almost anywhere in the forest districts of the 

 province of San Paulo, Brazil. At any season of the year we shall 

 N.S., Vol. ix. Mar., 1884. 



