Journal of Proceedings. lxxxv
Saturday, November 25th, 1882.—Ordinary Meeting.
The thirty-third Ordinary Meeting of the Club was held at the Head-
quarters at seven o'clock, the President in the chair.
Donations of books and pamphlets were announced from Mr. R. L.
Barnes and Mr. P. F. Copland. An almost complete set of the " Reports
of the British Association for the Advancement of Science " was pre-
sented to the Club by the General Committee of the Association.
Mr. G. P. Hope sent two specimens of the " Golden-eyed Garrot," and
one of the " Red-necked Grebe " in the flesh, which were placed in Mr.
English's hands for preservation.
A letter was read from the Committee of the Lewisham and Black-
heath Scientific Association offering to contribute £5 towards the
expenses of the projected Denehole explorations. The Secretary also
announced that Mr. T. V. Holmes had promised £5 in aid of the same.
Hearty votes of thanks were passed for these contributions.
The following were elected members of the Club:—Messrs. R. W.
Christy, R. G. Fletcher, David Houston, F.L.S., F.R.M.S., E. Rosling,
F.R.M.S., Isaac Scarf, F.C.S., Charles Taylor, and Charles Tighe.
Mr. N. F. Robarts was nominated auditor of the Treasurer's accounts
on behalf of the Council, and Mr. Letchford on behalf of the members.
The President said it would be remembered that Mr. Oldham had, at
the last meeting, exhibited some butterflies, amongst which were two
female specimens of Lycaena adonis, which were remarkable on account
of their being blue like the males. He had been asked by a member what
the use of exhibiting these varieties of colour in the Lepidoptera might
be. He thought there was a very decided usefulness in such exhibitions.
Those who were familiar with butterflies knew that there was a very
remarkable phenomenon which had been very much worked upon by
Wallace. He referred to what was known as dimorphism and poly-
morphism. A male butterfly would range over a very large tract of
country and be perfectly constant over the whole district; and that one
butterfly would have associated with it several females distinct in mark-
ing and in coloration. They were often so distinct that for years they
had in some cases stood in entomologists' cabinets under distinct names.
He had not seen any theory propounded as to the physiological meaning
of this phenomenon ; but in a note to his translation of Weismann's
' Studies in the Theory of Descent,' he had collated certain facts which
seemed to show that the phenomenon had arisen from simple variability ;
and he considered that Mr. Oldham's specimens were corroborative of
this view. In our commonest blue butterfly—Lycaena alexis—the male
was invariably blue, but the female varied from brown with hardly any
trace of blue on the wings to specimens almost as blue as the males. He
was inclined to think that in such facts as these we had that ground-
work upon which the unknown factors which had led to the production
of dimorphism could operate. If we supposed in such a species all the
forms intermediate between the blue and the brown forms to become