REVIEWS 169 



Pseudomyrma, the ants entering by boring a hole near the apex of a thorn. The 

 plant affords the ants food and shelter. The ants obtain their food from glands 

 which secrete a sugary fluid at the base of the petioles, and in return they 

 protect the trees by driving away the leaf-cutting species. Dealing with Insects 

 in Relation to other Animals, we do not find all we might expect, but there is 

 much of interest, especially in the section on insects in relation to fishes and 

 birds, in connection with food. The subject of fish food is very important to 

 those who are in charge of " hatcheries," and in this respect we have much to 

 learn from the researches in America. The author quotes largely from the 

 valuable writings of Forbes in connection with this subject. 



Some notes on the Transmission of Diseases by Insects are of course in- 

 cluded, and the malarial parasite seems to come in for more detail than the 

 mosquitoes, which form the intermediary host. We are not sure that the 

 recommendations, however, given by the author in regard to preventive measures 

 against malaria are quite up to the times. Any one living in regions infested by 

 these insects will soon discard such advice as using washes of eucalyptus oil, 

 oil of tar, etc., for none have any lasting effect in preventing their biting. 



Under " Tropisms, Instinct and Intelligence," we find twenty-one pages of very 

 thoughtful reading. The author explains very clearly the phenomena attending 

 the environmental influences of light, temperature and moisture directing and 

 controlling the locomotion by determining the orientation of the body — the 

 positive phototropic moth flying to the flame, the negative phototropic cockroach 

 avoiding the light, just as the. positively heliotropic sunflower turns to the sun. 



We are glad to see the following sentence in this chapter : " Though manifestly 

 dominant, pure instinct fails to account for all insect behaviour. The ability 

 of an insect to profit by experience indicates some degree of intelligence." 

 Any one who has watched ants performing their work must surely know that 

 intelligence, not mere instinct, guides them in their multifarious ways. That 

 they show abstract reasoning is another matter. 



Insects in Relation to Man is the only disappointing chapter ; it could not even 

 touch the fringe of this vast subject in sixteen pages, but what little it does touch 

 is accurate. 



The work, although published in this country, is essentially American, but 

 we are pleased to see it is written in the mother tongue, and that the strange 

 spelling — certainly not English — is conspicuous by its absence. The numerous 

 illustrations are excellent, and the whole work is full of thoughtful reading for 

 students of nature in all parts of the world. One is refreshed to find oneself 

 in fresh fields and pastures new, and one can say this of this book, which can 

 only help to make the subject of a more interesting and useful nature. 



Fred. V. Theobald. 



A Note on the Lac Insect ( Tachardia laced) : Its Life-History, Propagation, 

 and Collection. By E. P. Stebbing, F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.E.S., Imperial 

 Forest Zoologist. Indian Forest Records, vol. i. Pt. 1. Price Rs. 1.4.0. 

 (1908). 



A report of great interest has just been brought out by Mr. Stebbing on the lac 

 insect. That lac is the product of an insect — one of the Coccidas — is well known. 

 Its great importance to India can be estimated by the custom returns, which show 

 that the value of the export from the maritime ports of India for 1905-6 amounted 

 to no less than 3,31,39,786, or nearly 3J crores of rupees ! In investigating this 



