Abstract
MORE than four years have elapsed since the first part of this book was published, and one of the authors has been obliged to resign his share in the work. The second volume, which has been written by Mr. de Nicéville alone, is in no way inferior to the first. When we remember that in the trying climate of Calcutta, and only in the leisure hours which can be spared from official work, Mr. de Nicéville has with but very trifling assistance from the Government of India completed a volume of nearly 300 pages, containing over 300 species of butterflies, we must allow that he deserves great praise; and though a volume produced under such difficulties must of necessity contain faults, yet it is in every respect very superior to Mr. Moore's work on the Lepidoptera of Ceylon, which was largely subsidised by Government. There is no doubt that the impetus given to the study of the butterflies of India by the publication of this work will have the best results, and we have every reason to hope and believe that it may be completed in three or four years more at latest. The present volume is devoted almost entirely to the family of NymphalincE, and brings up the number of Indian butterflies already described to over 600, all of which are treated in a thoroughly scientific, careful, and painstaking manner.
The Butterflies of India, Bunnah, and Ceylon.
A Descriptive Hand-book of all the Known Species of Rhopalocer-ous Lepidoptera inhabiting that Region, with Notices of Allied Species occurring in the Neighbouring Countries along the Border. With Numerous Illustrations. By Lionel de Nicéville. Vol. II. Royal 8vo. (Calcutta. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1886.)
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ELWES, H. The Butterflies of India, Bunnah, and Ceylon . Nature 35, 436 (1887). https://doi.org/10.1038/035436a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/035436a0