J! 
JOURNAL OF VARIATION 
No. 10. VoL. II. 
October I 5th, 1891. 
Variation, 
Variation in British Lepidoptera. — When the introduction of 
the Linnaean or binomial system of nomenclature, and the example and 
enthusiasm of the great Swede and his contemporaries, had imparted 
new life to the study of nature, there was a tendency everywhere towards 
a multiplication of specific names. Hence, in the earlier manuals and 
catalogues, forms which we now know to be merely varieties or 
conditions, are accorded full specific rank. As time went on, and ' 
knowledge increased, naturalists began to see that many of these were 
merely subsidiary forms, and reduced them to the rank of varieties. 
More extended studies showed that in some cases even this position 
was not tenable, and so the names were sunk as mere synonyms. 
Many varieties were, however, retained, but the real significance of such 
forms was not understood ; no system of classifying them had been 
tried ; no attempt been made to account for their origin. In a word, 
no Darwin had arisen to instruct naturalists to penetrate, if possible, 
into the arcana naturce. Now that the fauna and flora of the British 
Islands has been, to a large extent, well worked out, naturalists, who 
are not on the one hand merely collectors, nor on the other purely 
biologists, have begun to turn their attention to other matters than 
simply amassing material ; and amongst other things have commenced 
to give a more serious study to the subject of variation and its origin. 
That the study of variation, as it occurs in wild animals and plants, is 
still in its infancy must be admitted. At the same time sufficient 
attention has been paid to it to show that not only is it one of much 
interest but of no little difficulty. For its proper elucidation a large 
amount of material, both in specimens and in observations, is necessary. 
When this has been collected, it is possible that problems which are 
still obscure may be cleared up. As a help to this desirable result we 
therefore welcome a recently published work ^ on one group of the 
British Lepidoptera, a class of the Insecta which, not only on account 
of the number of species contained in it, but from its popularity with 
collectors, affords ample material for the study of variation. In the 
text of his book Mr. Tutt does not enter upon the subject of the cause 
^ The British Noctuce and their Varieties. By J. W. Tutt. London : Swan, 
Sonnenschein and Co. Vol. i. 1891. 
