70 
INDIA 
plants until too late. But, on the other hand, burrs of every sort 
and kind abound to an incredible degree and tangle up the net; much 
of one’s time is spent in freeing net and breeches therefrom.” 
It might have been added that at Benares I first made acquaint¬ 
ance (somewhat intimate) with “ Spear-grass,” which is yet more 
provocative of bad language than either thorn or burr. Indeed, I am 
disposed to conjecture that Spear-grass, and not the Darnel or Rye¬ 
grass of commentators, was the “ Tares ” which the devil sowed 
amongst the wheat. 
Some three miles from Benares, on the way back from Sarnath, 
where Buddha first taught, Delias eucharis was flying in extreme 
abundance in a small field of the tall Marigold which is so much 
cultivated for the service of the temples. A truly gaudy sight it was 
to see crowds of these white, yellow, and scarlet butterflies upon the 
orange-coloured blossoms. 
Calcutta, lat. 22° 30' N. Near sea-level. 
December 4th-12th, 1903. 
Naturally one could not expect to turn up anything new at 
Calcutta, the capital of India, and long the home of de Niceville, 
that martyr to science who met his death in the deadly Terai when 
officially investigating the life-history of an insect pest. However, I 
determined in the few days at my disposal to get at any rate a 
sample of the fauna of Lower Bengal. 
The Eden Gardens, abutting on the Maidan and close to Govern¬ 
ment House, bear much the same relation to Calcutta as Kensington 
Gardens to London, and from their proximity to the hotel afforded a 
convenient collecting ground for odd hours. 
The Duranta was nearly over, and the most attractive feature 
proved to be a hedge of Lantana in full bloom. These dissimilar 
plants both belong to the Verbenaceae and are both natives of the 
West Indies, although the latter appears to have run wild in many 
parts of the East. On that hedge Danaida chrysippus was in 
abundance, accompanied by D. plexippus (genutia ), which I had not 
seen since I was at Malakand, while numerous Tirumala limniace 
and Crastia core completed the company of the Danaines. I was 
able to confirm my Benares observation that the male of D. chrysip- 
pus had a slight but decided odour suggestive of cockroaches, which 
was perhaps stronger when the “ scent sacs ” on the hind-wings were 
opened, though of this I was not sure. On the other hand, the male 
