I am under obligations to numerous friends and correspondents who have aided me, and take the present opportunity to extend to them all my hearty thanks for the generous manner in which they have assisted me in my pleasant task. I should fail, however, to follow the instincts of a grateful heart did I not render an especial acknowledgment to Mr. W.H. Edwards, of Coalburg, West Virginia, and Dr. Samuel H. Scudder, of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Justly esteemed as the two foremost lepidopterists of America, it is my honor to claim them as personal friends, whose kindness has much aided me in this labor of scientific love which I have undertaken. For the kind permission given me by Dr. Scudder to use various illustrations contained in the "Butterflies of New England" and other works, I am profoundly grateful.
I am under obligations to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons for permission to use the cuts numbered 46-49, 51-56, 59, 61, 62, and 73, which are taken from the work entitled "Taxidermy and Zoölogical Collecting," by W.T. Hornaday, and to the authorities of the United States National Museum and the heirs of the late Professor C.V. Riley for other illustrations.
Should this book find the favor which I have reason to think it deserves, I shall endeavor shortly to follow it by the preparation of a similar work upon the moths of the United States and Canada.
OFFICE OF THE CHANCELLOR, W.J.H. WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, August 16, 1898.
I. THE LIFE-HISTORY AND ANATOMY OF BUTTERFLIES 3-25
_The Eggs of Butterflies. Caterpillars_: Structure, Form, Color, etc.; Moults; Food of Caterpillars; Duration of Larval State; Transformation. _The Pupa, or Chrysalis_: The Form of Chrysalids; Duration of Pupal Life; The Transformation from the Chrysalis to the Imago. _Anatomy of Butterflies_: The Head; The Thorax; The Abdomen; The Legs; The Wings; Internal Organs; Polymorphism and Dimorphism; Albinism and Melanism; Monstrosities; Mimicry. _The Distribution of Butterflies._
II. THE CAPTURE, PREPARATION, AND PRESERVATION OF SPECIMENS 26-57
_Collecting Apparatus_: Nets; Collecting-Jars; Field-Boxes; The Use of the Net; Baits; Beating. _The Breeding of Specimens_: How to Get the Eggs of Butterflies; Breeding-Cages; How to Find Caterpillars; Hibernating Caterpillars. _The Preservation of Specimens_: Papering Specimens; Mounting Butterflies; Relaxing Specimens; The Preparation and Preservation of Butterfly Eggs; The Preservation of Chrysalids; The Preservation of Caterpillars. _The Preservation and Arrangement of Collections_: Boxes; Cabinets and Drawers; Labeling; Arrangement of Specimens; Insect Pests; Greasy Specimens; Mould; Repairing Specimens; Packing and Forwarding Specimens; Pins; The Forceps.