284 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS fJ une >T 3 



be a work well worthy of the best abilities of its authors and editors. 

 Surely the natural history of India is not nearly so well known as that 

 of North America, and yet, here is this "Fauna of British India" 

 coming out, of which entomology is already the major portion. Of 

 course, such a work is incomplete. Should we wait until such a time 

 when it would be complete? No; for as the author of this volume 

 says, "many new species . . . will with certainty be discovered, but 

 it seems reasonable to assume that for some little time to come the 

 wants of the . . . student in the groups monographed . . . will be 

 tolerably well met in these pages." 



The preface, glossary and introduction given in this part, are alone 

 a mine of information, and should prove of interest to every dip- 

 terist, especially the junior students. It is these pages that most in- 

 terest me and prompt me to write this notice. Anyone, reading over 

 the introduction can. of course, see conservative England in the auth- 

 or's methods and ideas, but he has shown the independence naturally 

 developed from being associated with persons and things of a place 

 far away from the direct influences of the mother country. Such an 

 author is compelled to rely more upon himself, and his work is, on 

 that account, of more interest, but will cause more criticisms, both 

 just and unjust. As to the work in question, I have no criticisms of 

 much import to make, partly because I am not considering the work 

 in its entirety. Not being well versed in the Nematocera, I will not 

 attempt to review die systematic part, but confine myself mainly to 

 the introduction. Thus my title, "A Partial Review." 



This introduction is practically a manual of dipterological taxonomy, 

 although "a general introduction to the whole order ... is not 

 contemplated ... in this volume." I find his remarks on collect- 

 ing and mounting of the most interest, especially the methods of 

 collecting, which will prove of value to many of us Americans. I 

 agree with him, in most respects, as to his remarks on the mounting, 

 especially as to the objection to gluing specimens on slips of cards. 

 Every specimen, both large and small, should be pinned, and he rightly 

 recommends pinning through the pleura obliquely instead of through 

 the dorsum. His recommendations in this respect, will not appeal to 

 those desiring an artistically arranged collection, but the sooner the 

 collector and student recognizes the advantages of these methods and 

 adopts them, as well as that of keeping the specimens dry and clean, 

 the more rapidly will the study of this order progress. I should 

 think that even the glossary and introduction alone, of this work, if 

 published in a pamphlet form, would be a useful guide to collectors 

 and students who desire to have material which will not be thrown 

 away when it comes to be worked up for determinations. 



There is one point I happen to notice wherein the author is decid- 

 edly wrong. It is in his use and explanation of the term "praefurca," 



