256 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



larvae, particularly the weird caterpillars of some of the Megalo- 

 pygid moths; and hosts of other observations of interest to students 

 in all branches of entomology. 



Much is also told of the birds, reptiles, mammals and other 

 animals observed, while the descriptive notes on the plants, illus- 

 trated by numerous photographs, will not only be of interest to 

 botanists, but will be of much value in giving to the general reader 

 a mental picture of the types of vegetation, characteristic of tropical 

 America. 



Among the most interesting chapters is the one describing the 

 ascent of the volcano Irazu, which gives a detailed account of the 

 volcano itself with its various craters and man}^ notes on the plants 

 and animals observed there; and the final chapter, dealing with the 

 destruction of Cartago by earthquakes in the spring of 1910, just 

 at the close of the authors' year in Costa Rica. Cartago was 

 chosen as their headquarters, from which excursions to various 

 parts of the country were made, the materials collected being 

 always brought here and kept in a room in the hotel, which served 

 as a laboratory. One of the early chapters (chap. 4) is devoted 

 to a description of the town and its life, as it existed before the 

 earthquake, while the last chapter, "Carthago deleta est," gives a 

 vivid and detailed picture of this terrible event, in which the 

 entire town was wrecked and nearly 300 people were killed, the 

 authors themselves suffering a very narrow escape. Fortunately, 

 although the living larvae, which represented the rearings.of many 

 months, were nearly all killed, the preserved specim.ens, notes, 

 journals and photographs were uninjured. 



The book is remarkable for the extreme care and accuracy 

 which characterize both matter and typography. The authors 

 have not been content merely to state their own experiences, but 

 have acquainted themselves with a large body of literature treat- 

 ing of the various subjects upon which they have written. One of 

 the most useful features of the book is the copious bibliography 

 contained in Appendices III and IV, the former gixing a list of 

 "papers based in whole or in part on the collections made by the 

 authors in Costa Rica," the latter "a list of selected literature re- 

 lating chiefiy to the Natural History of Costa Rica, exclusive of 

 that cited in Appendix III." 



Mailed July 2nd, 1917. 



