A Suffolk Collection, and Letter from T. C. Heysham, 1791-1857

T RA N SACT IONS. A SUFFOLK COLLECTION, & LETTER FROM T. C. HEYSHAM, 1791-1857.

BY F . W . FROHAWK, M . B . O . U . , Special F . R . E . S .

T h e following details of an entomologica! collection that I purchased were received b y me f r o m D r . Aikin, dated f r o m " 56 H i g h Road, Southtown, Suffolk ; 30 April 1919. . . . T h e collection was made by m y grandfather about 1833, and I have ahvays understood that the Large Coppers were obtained near Whittlesey M e r e before it was drained [in the eighteen-forties].

T h e particulars are :—One cabinet of 34 inches high by 38 long with 2 doors and 26 drawers, of which Ist contains 45 Butterflies including Machaon, Crataegi, Athalia, Artemis, S i n a p i s ; 2 n d contains 30 Butterflies C - a l b u m , Iris, Polychloros, & c ; 3rd contains 74 Butterflies /Egeria, Galathea, Semele, Blandina, Dispar, Pruni, Acis, Alsus, Arion, &c ; 4th part Butterflies & M o t h s [n.n.] ; 5th-10th M o t h s ; l l t h - 1 3 t h Beetles and other Insects ; 14th-15th O d d specimens ; remaining drawers empty. I enclose a letter addressed to my grandfather, which I found in the collection a n d may interest y o u . — W . O. A I K I N . " Little is known of the Aikins, none was ever an F.E.S., and their removal f r o m H u n t s to Southtown does not appear. Possibly they had relatives in Y a r m o u t h , where M r s . Elizabeth Aiken lived at 51 Marlket Place (among gentry, W h i t e ' s Directory 1845) and Mrs. Sarah Aiken was a milliner of 9 George-street (P.O. Directory 1846). T h e library of T . C. H e y s h a m esquire was sold in 1858, whereof the E n t o m . Soc. purchased a part for 46/. 71-, including the ' magnificent copy ' of H ü b n e r ' s Europaischer Schmetterlinge still possessed by it. At least a part of his C u m b e r l a n d Insects are still extant in the British M u s e u m . * His holograph Letter follows :— *He contributed to the Entomological Magazine in only 1836 on I-epidoptera, though working Diptera with Bees in 1856 (Ent. Annual); and was presumably related to that ' John Heysham, Esq., Carlisle,' who subscribed to Curtis' BE. in 1824, as he himsel'f did in 1825 et seqq. His collections must have been extensive, for sales of his Birds, Shells, &c, are reported in the Athenaeum of June 1858, 803 ; July 1858, 35 ; April 1859, 536 ; & May 1859, 599.—Ed.

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A SUFFOLK COLLECTION.

W . O . AIKIN ESQUIRE, S o m e r s h a m ,

Huntingdonshire.

CARLISLE;

MARCH 1 6 t h :

1833.

Dear Sir On the twelfth instant I had the very great pleasure of receiving your kind present of Insects, which I assure you are most acceptable to me and for which I beg to return you my best thanks. Many of the specimens, indeed I may say the whole of them are remarkably fine and exceedingly well set, and I was consequently the more mortified to find upon examining them that the abdomens of all the specimens of Deilephila Elpenor were broken by some means or other and which had by rolling about in the box materially injured the antennae of many of the others.

However I believe it is almost impossible in the conveyance of Insects by the Coach to avoid such casualties as the above upon every occasion.—I rejoice much to hear that the pair of Martins which I sent you in November last have met with your approval, and I avail myself of the opportunity to say that it will at all times afford me considerable pleasure to gratify you in this respect.

Düring the ensuing Summer I hope to haveit i n m y power to present you with a specimen of the Water Ousel worthy of your acceptance, and also one of the Pied Flycatcher, with the eggs of both. I certainly must confess that I was rather surprised to find so common a species as the Spotted Flycatcher enumerated in your very short list of birds, which I have enclosed in order that you may be perfectly satisfied upon this point.—As I find that you do not mount birds yourself, I have to beg that you will not upon any consideration incur the expense of getting any you may from time to time be so kind as to send to me set up, as the skins will answer my purpose equally as well, if not better, provided they are washed with a Solution of alcohol and corrosive Sublimate shortly after they are skinned and then loosely filled with cotton for the purpose of keeping the different parts of the natural dimensions.

Specimens of the Tree Sparrow and Bearded Titmouse together with the nests and eggs would be most thankfully received by me whenever they happen to fall in your way. Does the Water Rail, Spotted Kail and Black tail Godwit ever breed in your district ? if so, a few of the eggs of any of these birds would be highly prized by me, and if you will be so kind as to favour me with a list of the eggs and birds you are at all anxious to have, at your own time and convenience, I will do the best in my power to procure you as many of them as I possibly can.—Since the appearance of Stephens' Systematic Catalogue of British Insects [1829] the Saperda ferrea of Schrank has been met with in various parts of the Country. Stephens in his Illustrations has given a figure of this insect [vol. iv, 1831, p. 240, fig. by Westwood at pl. xxii, f.l], and states that it has been captured in Nottinghamshire, Lancashire and Warwick, and I have been informed in some other Counties.—I regret extremely to find that poor Stephens has again been under the necessity of suspending the publication of

A SUFFOLK

COLLECTION.

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his very excellent Illustrations of British Entomology owing to a piracy upon the work and which has involved him in a Chancery Suit, which I fear f r o m all accounts he cannot very well afford : indeed ever since the commencement of his different publications relative to the Entomology of this Country he appears to have met with nothing but disappointments and mortifications of one description or other, and I now really begin to fear that he will not be able to finish his chief work, T h e Illustrations. T h i s is the more to be lamented as I am strongly inclined to think that he is the only individual in this Country at all qualified for such a very dirficult and arduous undertaking, and which he has so far performed (taking all things into consideration) with the most distinguished talent and skill. I however hope and trust for the advancement of this truly delightful Science that my suspicions in this instance may prove u n f o u n d e d . — T h e Winter u p o n the whole has been so extremely mild in this vicinity that not a single Winter visitant of the least rarity has been killed here to my knowledge, and the only novelty in the bird way that I have heard of since I last had the pleasure of writing to you is a specimen of the Hawfinch which has been seen repeatedlv about four miles f r o m this place. So'far, however, it has escaped notwithstanding it has been shot at several times and I now begin to fear that it will not [good ! ] be obtained. T h i s I regret the more, as I have every reason to believe that this is the first instance of the H a w f i n c h having been recognised in this County.—Assuring you that it will at all times give m e the greatest pleasure to hear f r o m you, and again thanking you for your very handsome present of Insects I beg to remain Dear Sir youres' very truly T H O M A S C O U L T H A R D HEYSHAM.

A N EVACUATED W O R M . — I enclose a creature which was f o u n d by one of our m e n crawling u p a sugar-beet leaf. H e said that it was about four inches long, w h e n alive and out at its füll length.

1 erhaps you can teil me what it is ? — R . R A Y D O N W I L S O N . , Belstead Hall ; 8 J u n e 1943. [Appears to be a species of the genus Mermts (Gordius, partim : cf. T r a n s , iv, p. 229, where read Nemerw — E d . ) , which is parasitic inside various insects but leaves t h e m in wet weather and in water. T h e y have to be alive or very well preserved to be identifiable, useless in this dried State. I have once got one half way out of a mature G r o u n d Beetle Pterostichus >"ger, at the edge of a stream.—DR. K . G . B L A I R ] , WATER-BEETLE F L Y I N G BY D A Y . — T h i s Beetle [Acilius sulcatus, " 2 ] was flying on the downs at Swanage in Dorset this afternoon ; and, as I do not happen to r e m e m b e r one like it, you will find it enclosed.—C. C. T . G I L E S ; 2 April.