among African Butterflies," in the Transactions of the Linnæan Society, for 1868, he has argued strongly in favour of Mr. Bates' views as to the higher position of the Danaidæ and the lower grade of the Papilionidæ, and has adduced, among other facts, the undoubted resemblance of the pupa of Parnassius, a genus of Papilionidæ, to that of some Hesperidæ and moths. I admit, therefore, that he has proved the Papilionidæ to have retained several characters of the nocturnal Lepidoptera which the Danaidæ have lost, but I deny that they are therefore to be considered lower in the scale of organization. Other characters may be pointed out which indicate that they are farther removed from the moths even than the Danaidæ. The club of the antennæ is the most prominent and most constant feature by which but-. terflies may be distinguished from moths, and of all butterflies the Papilionidæ have the most beautiful and most perfectly developed clubbed antennæ. Again, butterflies and moths are broadly characterised by their diurnal and nocturnal habits respectively, and the Papilionidæ, with their close allies the Pieridæ, are the most pre-eminently diurnal of butterflies, most of them lovers of sunshine, and not presenting a single crepuscular species. The great group of the Nymphalidæ, on the other hand (in which Mr. Bates includes the Danaidæ and Heliconidæ as sub-families), contains an entire sub-family (Brassolide) and a number of genera, such as Thaumantis, Zeuxidia, Pavonia, &c., of crepuscular habits, while a large

proportion of the Satyrida and many of the Danaidæ are shade-loving butterflies. This question, of what is to be considered the highest type of any group of organisms, is one of such general interest to naturalists that it will be well to consider it a little further, by a comparison of the Lepidoptera with some groups of the higher animals.

Mr. Trimen's argument, that the lepidopterous type, like that of birds, being pre-eminently aërial, "therefore a diminution of the ambulatory organs, instead of being a sign of inferiority, may very possibly indicate a higher, because a more thoroughly aërial form," is certainly unsound, for it would imply that the most aërial of birds (the swift and the frigatebirds, for example) are the highest in the scale of bird-organization, and the more so on account of their feet being very ill adapted for walking. But no ornithologist has ever so classed them, and the claim to the highest rank among birds is only disputed between three groups, all very far removed from these. They are 1st. The Falcons, on account of their general perfection, their rapid flight, their piercing vision, their perfect feet armed with retractile claws, the beauty of their forms, and the ease and rapidity of their motions; 2nd. The Parrots, whose feet, though ill-fitted for walking, are perfect as prehensile organs, and which possess large brains with great intelligence, though but moderate powers of flight; and, 3rd. The Thrushes or Crows, as typical of the perching birds, on account of the well-balanced development of their

whole structure, in which no organ or function has attained an undue prominence.

Turning now to the Mammalia, it might be argued that as they are pre-eminently the terrestrial type of vertebrates, to walk and run well is essential to the typical perfection of the group; but this would give the superiority to the horse, the deer, or the hunting leopard, instead of to the Quadrumana. We seem here to have quite a case in point, for one group of Quadrumana, the Lemurs, is undoubtedly nearer to the low Insectivora and Marsupials than the Carnivora or the Ungulata, as shown among other characters by the Opossums possessing a hand with perfect opposable thumb, closely resembling that of some of the Lemurs ; and by the curious Galeopithecus, which is sometimes classed as a Lemur, and sometimes with the InsectiAgain, the implacental mammals, including the Ornithodelphia and the Marsupials, are admitted to be lower than the placental series. But one of the distinguishing characters of the Marsupials is that the young are born blind and exceedingly imperfect, and it might therefore be argued that those orders in which the young are born most perfect are the highest, because farthest from the low Marsupial type. This would make the Ruminants and Ungulata higher than the Quadrumana or the Carnivora. But the Mammalia offer a still more remarkable illustration of the fallacy of this mode of reasoning, for if there is one character more than another which is essential and distinctive of the class, it is that from which it derives

vora.

its name, the possession of mammary glands and the power of suckling the young. What more reasonable, apparently, than to argue that the group in which this important function is most developed, that in which the young are most dependent upon it, and for the longest period, must be the highest in the Mammalian scale of organization? Yet this group is the Marsupial, in which the young commence suckling in a foetal condition, and continue to do so till they are fully developed, and are therefore for a long time absolutely dependent on this mode of nourishment.

These examples, I think, demonstrate that we cannot settle the rank of a group by a consideration of the degree in which certain characters resemble or differ from those in what is admitted to be a lower group; and they also show that the highest group of a class may be more closely connected to one of the lowest, than some other groups which have developed laterally and diverged farther from the parent type, but which yet, owing to want of balance or too great specialization in their structure, have never reached. a high grade of organization. The Quadrumana afford a very valuable illustration, because, owing to their undoubted affinity with man, we feel certain that they are really higher than any other order of Mammalia, while at the same time they are more distinctly allied to the lowest groups than many others. The case of the Papilionidæ seems to me so exactly parallel to this, that, while I admit all the proofs of affinity with the undoubtedly lower groups of Hesperide and

moths, I yet maintain that, owing to the complete and even development of every part of their organization, these insects best represent the highest perfection to which the butterfly type has attained, and deserve to be placed at its head in every system of classification.

Distribution of the Papilionida.

The Papilionidæ are pretty widely distributed over the earth, but are especially abundant in the tropics, where they attain their maximum of size and beauty, and the greatest variety of form and colouring. South America, North India, and the Malay Islands are the regions where these fine insects occur in the greatest profusion, and where they actually become a not unimportant feature in the scenery. In the Malay Islands in particular, the giant Ornithoptera may be frequently seen about the borders of the cultivated and forest districts, their large size, stately flight, and gorgeous colouring rendering them even more conspicuous than the generality of birds. In the shady suburbs of the town of Malacca two large and handsome Papilios (Memnon and Nephelus) are not uncommon, flapping with irregular flight along the roadways, or, in the early morning, expanding their wings to the invigorating rays of the sun. In Amboyna and other towns of the Moluccas, the magnificent Deiphobus and Severus, and occasionally even the azure-winged Ulysses, frequent similar situations, fluttering about the orange-trees and flower-beds, or