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the collecting of the horns and heads ; hut the fact of leaving the bodies of the 
insects after the operation in the hy-ways and paths of our suburban and 
country lanes, does not add to the charm of a walk. 
“A kindly word put by those in authority would, I believe, convert the poor 
stag-beetle into a pet, to be observed from a more intelligent point of view ; or, 
if the insect be a pest, let it be treated as such, but without this cruel method 
of extermination that takes place daily during the appearance of the species.” 
Dress at the Opera. — “ The opera management at Covent 
Garden regulates tlie dress of its male patrons. When is it 
going to do the same to the women ? ” 
This question is put by Mr. G. Bernard Shaw in a letter in 
the Times of July 3. On the previous Saturday night, he tells 
us, he went to the opera, and wore “ the costume imposed on 
me by the regulations of the house. I fully recognise the 
advantage of those regulations. Evening dress is cheap, simple, 
durable, prevents rivalry and extravagance on the part of male 
leaders of fashion, annihilates class distinctions, and gives men 
who are poor and doubtful of their social position (that is, the 
great majority of men) a sense of security and satisfaction that 
no clothes of their own choosing could confer. 
“ But I submit that what is sauce for the gander is sauce 
for the goose. ... At nine o’clock a lady came in and sat 
down very conspicuously in my line of sight. She remained 
there until the beginning of the last act. I do not complain of 
her coming late and going early ; on the contrary, I wish she 
had come later and gone earlier. For this lady, who had very 
black hair, had stuck over her right ear the pitiable corpse of 
a large white bird, which looked exactly as if some one had 
killed it by stamping on its breast, and then nailed it to the 
lady’s temple, which was presumably of sufficient solidity to 
bear the operation. I am not, I hope, a morbidly squeamish 
person, but the spectacle sickened me. 
“ I presume that if I had presented myself at the doors with 
a dead snake round my neck, a collection of blackbeetles pinned 
to my shirt-front, and a grouse in my hair, I should have been 
refused admission. Why, then, is a woman to be allowed to 
commit such a public outrage ? 
“ I suggest to the Covent Garden authorities that, if they 
feel bound to protect their subscribers against the danger of my 
shocking them with a blue tie, they are at least equally bound 
to protect me against the danger of a woman shocking me with 
a dead bird.” 
Extermination of Plants. — We are glad to see that several 
correspondents of the Yorkshire Daily Post have been writing to 
urge that something should be done to check the despoiling of the 
country-side, especially in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lake 
district, by the extermination of wild ferns and flowering-plants. 
Special mention is made of Wharfedale, and, among the species 
in danger, of the Osmunda, Ceterach and Hart’s-tongue ferns. 
The writers also refer to the wholesale picking of primroses, cow- 
