88 REVIEWS. 



" Time of Appearance," we find such entries as " very rare," " only one 

 taken," &c. ; still we approve of the table on the whole the idea is very 

 good. 



The author, Mr. H. G. Adams, is fond of hunting out derivations, and 

 the origin of names, &c., which are sometimes far-fetched, as the deriva- 

 tion of Machaon, from " the Latin Machera, a dagger or knife" (he might 

 have said the Greek at once, from which the Latin adopted it), in allusion 

 to the pointed tails of the insect ; and the name of the comma butterfly 

 from the " outline of the wings, which, forming the kind of curve pre- 

 sented by the stop called a comma, gave occasion to the name." Oddly 

 enough, in the very next sentence he gives the true derivation while 

 accounting for the addition " album," which we should have thought so 

 plain as to need no comment, much less to excuse such a recondite ab- 

 surdity as we have just quoted. These are minutiae which we can laugh 

 at and pass by ; the little book has a good aim, and is well written, is 

 uncommonly cheap, nicely got up, and has our hearty commendation and 

 recommendation. 



Ere passing from the subject, we may inform our readers that this little 

 book is one of a series of similarly cheap and illustrated works now being 

 issued by Mr. Adams, two of which have already appeared one on 

 British Birds' Nests, and their Eggs, the other on Mollusca. Some of 

 these we hope to give an account of on a future occasion. 



READING LESSONS. First Book. Edited by Edward Hughes, Head 

 Master of the Royal Naval Lower School, Greenwich Hospital. Long- 

 man, Brown, Green, and Longman. 



MR. HUGHES is already well known to the public as a successful writer on 

 educational subjects. His excellent " Outlines of Physical Geography," 

 and " Scripture Geography and History," need no commendation of ours 

 to make them better known to those who are engaged in the arduous and 

 responsible work of education. One of the prominent features of this age 

 is the effort which is made in every quarter to imbue the minds of the 

 youag with a knowledge of scientific subjects. There exists, in fact, a 

 rage for scientific education, and in this, as in every similar instance where 

 there is a great public desire to be satisfied, abundant opportunity is given 

 to quacks and pretenders of every kind to palm off on the unsuspecting 

 their spurious wares. There exists at present an anxious and, we think, 

 a reasonable desire to appoint a commission, to examine " Adulterations of 



