136 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



and are such as are particularly open to contact with the ground 

 or other opposing surfaces, or lie over parts of the body where 

 strong, very frequent, divergent or frequent convergent muscular 

 action prevails. 



That the writer's conclusions will strike a serious blow at 

 Weismannism may be open to question ; but that the facts he 

 adduces are full of interest is certain, and that his method of 

 explaining them is ingenious is undoubted. O. C. B. 



THE MIGRATION AND DISPERSAL OF INSECTS. By J. W. 

 Tutt, F.E.S. (London: Elliot Stock, November 1903. Price 

 55. net.) 



This little volume (which is surely worthy of a cloth binding, 

 although issued only in paper covers) gives a capital summary of 

 all that is known through published records of the so-called migra- 

 tions of insects. The subject, which is only yet in its infancy, is 

 dealt with in nine long chapters, the first of which treats of general 

 considerations, the second to the eighth of the various orders 

 seriatim, while the last is devoted to a consideration of the real 

 nature and causes of the various dispersal movements. In the 

 case of the Orthoptera and Coleoptera the migration appears to be 

 connected with the question of food-supply, but in Hymenoptera the 

 author suggests that the necessity of finding a new home, the desira- 

 bility of cross -fertilisation, and the need for new feeding-grounds 

 all act as important factors. With regard to the Lepidoptera, the 

 author confesses that the causes of dispersion are still obscure, but 

 at the same time suggests that the migratory habit may be merely 

 a matter of hereditary instinct. 



This little book of 132 pages is very suggestive and well worth 

 reading, and we can cordially recommend it as likely to interest not 

 only the entomologist but the nature-lover in general. 



A NATURALIST'S CALENDAR, KEPT AT SWAFFHAM BULBECK, 

 CAMBRIDGESHIRE. By Leonard Blomefield (formerly Jenyns). 

 Edited by Francis Darwin. (Cambridge: University Press, 1903.) 



This is a very old friend in separate form, and amplified from 

 data amassed by the author since it appeared as part of his well- 

 known "Observations on Natural History," published in 1846. 

 The late Charles Darwin said of the observations : " These are the 

 facts which make one understand the working or economy of 

 nature," and also that he thought it " very amusing to have a list 

 before one's eyes of the order of appearance of plants and animals 

 around one ; it gives a fresh interest to each fine day." The 

 editor informs us that it was to a great extent this latter sentiment 

 of his father's that induced him to republish the Calendar ; and 

 we on our part welcome its appearance, and appreciate much the 

 editor's admirable introduction on the usefulness of such calendars. 



