the observers to settle down' to the conclusion, 'This must be the animal called the sea-serpent.' Had the monster I described not been taken, I should have believed, as firmly as Capt. Harrington does, that I could confirm the statement of the commander of the Dædalus,' and that'the animal belonged to the serpent tribe.' Everybody knows what different notions are generated by momentary and unexpected appearances of things as compared with the things themselves when examined. Perhaps the nostril of the Dædalus' sea-serpent was seen in the recollection of one spectator, the mouth in that of another, the eye in that of another, and so on. I take leave to question the possibility of these 'being most distinctly visible' when the object at its nearest position' was 200 yards distant, the sea getting up, and the observers travelling in an opposite direction, the passing of the two being apparently at the rate of twenty miles an hour. Naturalists will say whether an animal to answer to the habits and attributes of that in question would have a nostril. I am sure that Capt. Harrington, of the 'Castilian,' saw an extraordinary object, and described it according to his impression, and having a great respect for ‘a first-class certificate in the mercantile marine' (as I hold a first-class extra' myself), and also for Sir Colin Campbell, now in the East,' to whom Capt. Harrington is so well known, I feel equally sure that, so accredited, he has published his account with no other than a good object. Nevertheless, these circumstances do not prove to me that Capt. Harrington saw the sea-serpent, because that 'queer fish' so very nearly and completely took me in until I took him in. "I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, "FRED. SMITH. "Newcastle-on-Tyne, February 19." On the Geographical Distribution of Butterflies in Great Britain. By T. BOYD and A. G. MORE, Esqrs. THE present paper originated in a desire to ascertain how far the plan of Mr. H. C. Watson's 'Cybele Britannica' is available in the sister science of Zoology, and for our experiment we have selected the butterflies as the best known and most generally studied of British insects. It is now offered to entomologists as a sketch which future observation may fill up,-as something to which the youngest, if only he be accurate, may make useful additions, and so aid in forming a list which shall be valuable in a scientific point of view. Any one at all acquainted with Entomology, its present immature condition, its peculiar liability to error, and the state of feeling among collectors, will easily perceive that nothing beyond a bare sketch of the distribution of any family of insects is at present possible. We are aware that the accompanying list might have been made much more complete had a wider range of authorities been taken; but : knowing how much doubt attaches to many names occurring in the best works, and the amount of inaccuracy to be found in many local lists, it appeared to us that more would be lost in value than gained in completeness by quoting authorities indiscriminately we have therefore confined ourselves to one recent work, which we believe to be compiled with great care, viz. Stainton's Manual of British Butterflies,' and for the rest we have relied upon the authority of the following entomologists, to whom our best thanks are due, and whose names will be a sufficient gurantee for the accuracy of their information:-Messrs. Allis, Ashworth (since deceased), Bond, Buxton, Doubleday, Edleston, Harris, Logan, Salt, and Vaughan. Two or three localities are also added on the authority of McGillivray's 'Natural History of Dee-Side.' The names adopted are those of Doubleday's 'Synonymic List,' which we believe are at the present time most generally used in this country. The particulars of the "Provinces," into which Mr. Watson has divided Great Britain, are enumerated below: 1. Peninsula: Cornwall, Devon, Somerset. 2. Channel: Dorset, Wilts, Isle of Wight, Hants, Sussex. 3. Thames: Kent, Surrey, Berks, Oxford, Bucks, Middlesex, Herts, Essex. 4. Ouse: Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Huntingdon, Northampton. 5. Severn: Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick, Stafford, Salop, Hereford, Monmouth. 6. South Wales: Glamorgan, Caermarthen, Pembroke, Cardigan, Brecon, Radnor. 7. North Wales: Montgomery, Merioneth, Caernarvon, Denbigh, Flint, Anglesea. 8. Trent: Leicester, Rutland, Lincoln, Notts, Derby. 9. Mersey Cheshire, Lancashire. 10. Humber: York. 11. Tyne: Durham, Northumberland. 12. Lakes: Westmoreland, Cumberland (Isle of Man). 13. West Lowlands: Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Wigton, Ayr, Lanark, Renfrew. 14. East Lowlands: Berwick, Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, Haddington, Edinburgh, Linlithgow. 15. East Highlands: Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, Stirling, Perth, Forfar, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Banff, Moray (including Nairn, Elgin, and the North-east of Inverness). 16. West Highlands: Dumbarton, Argyle, Inverness, westward of Loch Erricht, Isles adjacent, from Arran to Skye. 17. North Highlands: Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland and Caithness. 18. North Isles: Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland. It is with these provinces alone that the present paper has to do, and no attempt has been made to work out an estimate of the counties, or the latitude or altitude, to which the various species are confined, there being at present no sufficient materials for the purpose. Papilio Machaon. Area * 2 * 4. Marshes, local. A handsome insect, frequently bred in numbers, and therefore occasionally taken on the wing in various localities. Pieris Crategi. Area 1 2 3 4 5. Woods and forests, local. P. Brassica. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. This and the two following species seem attached to cultivated land, and are probably common everywhere. Mr. Buxton says that he saw white butterflies in Sutherland (17), but did not notice the species. P. Rape. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. P. Napi. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. P. Daplidice. Area**3 4 5. Stainton's Manual. Anthocharis Cardamines. 13 14 * 16. Leucophasia Sinapis. and forests. Gonepteryx Rhamni. and cultivated land. Colias Edusa. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12 Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 8*10* 12. Woods Area 1 2 3 4 5 ** 8 9 10 11 12. Woods Area 1 2 3 4 5 ** 8 9 10 11 12 *** 16. Cultivated land and downs. This and the next species are most plentiful near the coast. Cultivated land and downs. C. Hyale. Area 1 2 3 4 5 ** 8 9 10. T. W-album. Area 1 3 4 5 **** 10. Hedge-row elms. T. Quercus. extinct. 12 13 15 16 17. Marshes, local; apparently C. Phlæas. Area 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. Polyommatus Argiolus. Area 1 2 3 4 5 7 9 10 * 12. Woods. P. Alsus. Area 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16. Downs. P. Acis. Area * 2 * 4 5. Cultivated ground, local. 2, 4, F. Bond. 5, Stainton's Manual. P. Ægon. Area 1 2 3 4 5 *** 9 10. Uncultivated ground. P. Alexis. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * P. Adonis. Area 1 2 3 * 5. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ** 18. Downs, on chalk. P. Corydon. Area 1 2 3 4 5 8. Downs, on chalk. P. Arion. Area 1** 4. Local. P. Agestis. Area 1 2 3 4 5 *7** 10. ** 10 11 * 13 14 15. The area of this insect begins where that of Agestis ends: is it a species ? Area* 2 3 4 5 * * 8 * 10 * 12 13. Nemeobius Lucina. local. Woods and forests. Woods, 7 8 10 11 12. Woods. Limenitis Sybilla. Area* 2 3 4 5. Argynnis Paphia. Area 1 2 3 4 5 A. Aglaia. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16. Woods. A. Adippe. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * * 8 * 10 * 12 * * * 16. Woods. A. Lathonia. Area 1 2 3 4 5. Cultivated land, local. (Stainton's Manual). Other species have frequently been mistaken for this, and it probably often escapes notice from its similarity to them. A. Euphrosyne. Area 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 * 12 13 15 16 17. Woods. A. Selene. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 * 12 13 14 15 16 17. Woods. Melitaa Artemis. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * * 8 9 10 12 13 14 * 16. Marshes, local. M. Cinxia. Area* 2 3 4 land, local. M. Athalia. Area 1 3 4 5. Woods, local. * 15. Uncultivated Vanessa Cardui. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * * 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16. The whole of this genus seems to prefer cultivated land. V. Atalanta. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 15 16. V. Io. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 * 12 13 14 15 16. ** * V. Antiopa. Area 1 2 3 4 5✶✶ 8 9 10 12 * 14. V. Urtica. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17. V. Polychloros. Area 1 2 3 4 5 ** 8 9 10 * 12. V. C-album. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12. Local, not found in places where it was once common. Apatura Iris. Area* 2 3 4 5 8. Woods. Arge Galathea. Area 1 2 3 4 5 ** 8 * 10. local. Waste ground, Satyrus Semele. Area 1 2 3 4 5 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. Waste ground, local. S. Pamphilus. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. Pamphila Linea. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * * 8 * 10 * * * 14. P. Sylvanus. Area 1 2 3 4 5 * 7 8 9 10 * 12 13 14. In P. Comma. Area 1 2 3 4 * * * * * 10. Downs, local. Stainton's Manual' Scarborough is given as a locality for this insect, but Mr. Allis says that he has frequently examined specimens, said to be common, taken in Yorkshire, but they invariably proved to be Sylvanus. P. Actaon. Area 1 2 * * 5. 5, Stainton's Manual. Local. Having thus applied Mr. H. C. Watson's formula, as far as "Pro-. vinces" are concerned, we will next endeavour to carry out the system of the Cybele Britannica' a little further, by referring the several insects to their respective "Types of Distribution," premising that, with increased observation, a few changes may become necessary, and we may then hope to see Mr. Watson's plans carried out, for the butterflies at least, into some of the other details, which he has successfully employed for our flowering plants. I. Twenty-three species are assigned to the "British Type," as they appear to be widely distributed throughout Great Britain, though their range is scarcely so universal as that of the plants which belong |