33 8 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Dec., '05 



not P. Columbia. 430 and b are both males. 431 and b and 432 and b 

 are also males. Agricola and nemorum are badly mixed. Fig. 437 is not 

 Pamphila brettus $ but is P. phylceus 1 . The female is brettus. 438 

 and b are Pamphila phylfsus $ and 9 . Figs. 464 and 468 appear to be 

 f uner alis 9 . 469 is not tristis but juvenalis . 480 looks like icelus. 



With the west coast butterflies figured the entire territory of the United 

 States is fairly well covered, and our knowledge of North American but- 

 terflies will make rapid progress. Progress is, however, not advanced 

 by describing aberrations, geographical races, mutations, varieties, etc., 

 unless they are accurately figured as they are in this book. We were 

 delighted to see Mr. Wright's work, and our purpose in speaking of 

 errors is to place the things correctly for the future. H. SKINNER. 



This, the first book to be published west of the Mississippi on butter- 

 flies, will mark an important epoch in the study of the butterflies of Cali- 

 fornia, which will be commented on again, in a short sketch of the devel- 

 opment of Californian entomology, which has been prepared by the 

 writer. 



Mr. Wright is, at present, the oldest living collector and student of 

 Californian entomology, and this book represents, practically, his life- 

 work. 



The dedication to W. H. Edwards is very fitting, as marking the life- 

 long friendship and mutual help. 



The photo of the author, as the frontispiece, is a pleasant addition. 



Originality of writing and of work and thought and to some extent the 

 idiosyncrasies of the author are exhibited from the preface to the last 

 page, which will be no doubt evident to the reader. 



The spirit in which the book was written, to preserve what is known 

 of the California!! butterflies and the life-work of the author, is to be com- 

 mended. It only makes one more than lament the fact that Dr. Behr did 

 not do the same thing. 



To proceed to the main body of the work ; most of the species are 

 illustrated in the beautiful plates, and hardly need any further delinea- 

 tion, so the author takes advantage of this, and except in the cases of 

 new species, the descriptions are brief or eliminated, and in their places 

 interesting notes on habits, occurrence, etc., are given. 



Now having shown the general excellence of the work, and the place 

 it will take in future work, as a classic really, and the marking of a new 

 epoch, we will proceed to point out the few errors which occur to us. 



The comments on subspecies, varieties and aberrations are to the 

 point, but the definition of a subspecies as a geographical variation is 

 not brought out strongly. 



The capitalization of specific names is against the rules laid down by 

 the A. O. U. Committee on Nomenclature, but there is not any very seri- 

 ous harm done here by so doing. 



In the part treating of the general biology of butterflies, of which forty- 



