THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 25 



BOOK NOTICES. 



The Moth Book. — A popular guide to a knowledge of the Moths of North 

 America. By W. J. Holland, D.D., Director of the Carnegie Museum, 

 Pittsburg, Pa., etc. New York : Doubleday, Page & Company, 34 

 Union Square ; 4to. pp. xxiv. + 479- (Price $4.00 net, postage 34 

 cents.) 



It is now four years since Dr. Holland published his admirable 

 "Buttertiy Book," and for some time the possessors of it have been looking 

 forward eagerly to the publication of this companion volume, which is 

 intended to afford an eacy introduction to the identification of our moths. 

 We can well understand that the task has been a difficult one, as there are 

 six thousand species listed, a number manifestly impossible to figure or 

 describe in a single volume, and the problem has been how to make a 

 satisfactory selection from this vast number. The author has wisely solved 

 the difticulty by figuring almost all the larger and more conspicuous species 

 which the ordinary collector is most likely to meet with, and giving 

 representatives of many genera in the remainirrg families. Owing to the 

 limitations of space, no descriptions are given as a rule, but there is a useful 

 key to the families, and a list of books which the student may consult. 



The forty-eight plates, containing over 1,500 figures, are very beauti- 

 ful, and for the most part true to nature, but in some cases the purple tint 

 of the background affects the correctness of the colouring. In many 

 instances the eftect is marvellously successful, as may be seen in the case 

 of Composia fideiissitna (plate xxxviii., fig. 4), and the figures of larvfe on 

 the frontispiece. The cuts in the text, 263 in number, are not so satis- 

 factory, owing to the rough texture of the paper, which has prevented clear 

 impressions from being made. 



A full meed of gratitude is certainly due to Dr. Holland for this 

 welcome addition to the goodly list of popular works on Natural History. 

 With this volume, the Butterfly Book, and Dr. Howard's Insect Book, the 

 way is made easy for beginners in the study of Entomology, who should 

 now become many times more numerous than ever before. The initial 

 difficulties regarding the identification of specimens being largely removed, 

 collectors and students should have much more time at their disposal for 

 tracing out the life-histories and observing the manners and customs of 

 insects respecting which we know little at present. 



