Page:The Butterflies of India, Burmah and Ceylon Vol 1.djvu/27

Rh phenomena of Entomology may here be studied in life—yet little has been done beyond attaching a name to each different form or species; and even in this preliminary ground-work the greater portion of the labour has been carried on, not by Englishmen, but by foreigners. The larger number of our Indian species have been named by French, German or Russian naturalists, while not one per cent, have been named by English naturalists in this country. The few among our countrymen out here who have taken up the study have worked under difficulties sufficient to dishearten the most ardent student; and the usual result has been that their laboriously collected observations and notes have either been lost altogether, or rendered comparatively useless owing to difficulties in identification of the species observed, or to omission of some detail, the importance of which could only be known to skilled zoologists.

The reason for this state of affairs is obvious. No attempt has hitherto been made to bring the study of the science within the reach of the public in this country. The published information regarding Indian Butterflies is scattered over numerous works, many of which are out of print, and are either not to be bought at all, or else only at prices beyond the means of private individuals. The older books deal with Butterflies from all parts of the world, and the more recent papers regarding the Butterflies of particular localities, such as the "Butterflies of Malacca," by Butler, the "Butterflies of Tenasserim," of the "Andamans and Nicobars," of "Bengal," of the "North-West Himalayas," &c., by Moore, consist of bare and incomplete lists of names, with descriptions of a few new species ; and, while amply fulfilling the special object with which they were published, are of no use whatever to the general public, except to the few who, having access to good museums and libraries, have at hand the means of supplementing for themselves the information given.

It has been well nigh impossible under such circumstances for collectors of Butterflies in this country to name their own specimens, and our knowledge of Indian Butterflies has been limited to the contents of such of the more important collections as have been from time to time sent to the Museums of Europe for study and description; but the contents of the smaller collections have, for the most part, been left unrecorded. It is probable that there are, comparatively, few species in this country still unnamed; but that something in this direction still remains to be done is proved by the fact that, since it became known about a year and a half ago that this book was under preparation, nearly fifty new species have been discovered by naturalists in this country—a number far exceeding that of all the species hitherto named by working naturalists in India.

But in the matter of scientific observation of habits and life-history we repeat that very little has been done. To get this we must be mainly independent of foreign help—we must depend on our own exertions. No one collector, however zealous, and no single observer, however accurate and persevering, can exhaust the subject even in a single locality. It is by the combined efforts of the many that progress will be secured. The study in this country has hitherto, as we have shown, lacked the stimulus and interest that a knowledge of the nomenclature, and a record of what had previously been discovered, would have supplied; and it is to supply this want, and to secure the co-operation of all those who take an interest in the matter, that a descriptive handbook is required. It has been no small encouragement to us to find that, in the comparatively short time that has elapsed since this work was commenced, we have received hearty sympathy and help from naturalists all over the country, who have not only redoubled their exertions in collecting and observing, but have generously assisted us with specimens, notes, and valuable advice, while several gentlemen, not previously interested in the subject, have undertaken to collect in various localities. Professor J. Wood-Mason, Deputy Superintendent of the Indian Museum, Calcutta, has also in view of this publication thoroughly re-arranged and investigated the