1904. 



Reviews. 161 



from gain, and galii from cuphorbice ; pinastri from ligustri, and ligiistri from 

 convolvuli. This generic "splitting" is undoubtedly warranted by struc- 

 tural characters, and its acceptance by all serious students is only a 

 matter of time. We doubt, however, if the names which Mr. Tutt 

 adopts for these genera will meet with acceptance. Urged on by what 

 is supposed to be an uniform "law of priority," various systematists are 

 arriving at results that threaten to confuse the whole nomenclature of 

 the Lepidoptera. Messrs. Rothschild and Jordan have lately published 

 a monograph on the Sphingids of the world, and the genera they accept 

 are accepted also by Mr. Tutt. But when we come to names anarchy 

 reigns supreme. For example they call ligtistri Uyloicus, he calls it Sphinx. 

 They apply Sphinx to ocellatus, which he calls by the familiar Smerinthus. 

 But they retain Macroglossa for stellatarum, which Mr. Tutt finds it neces- 

 sary to regard as the type of Sesia I If there were any prospect of arriving 

 at finality, the body of working naturalists might be induced to accept 

 these changes ; but when no two authorities can agree what changes are 

 required, is it any wonder that most workers prefer to keep to names 

 which they know and which all understand? 



But enough of such disputes about words and names. The student 

 will turn to Mr. Tutt's book, not for barren discussion, but for information 

 how his favourite insects live, feed, grow, pupate, vary, migrate— and 

 he will not be disappointed. In the volume before us, taking, for ex- 

 ample, an insect which often attracts notice in this country — the Death's- 

 head — we find over 70 pages devoted to the species. There is a discussion 

 of the feeding-habits of the caterpillar — so commonly found in potato 

 fields— in relation to its protective coloration, and a long and interesting 

 account of the well-known squeaking sound made by the moth, and the 

 various theories that have been put forward to explain it. Mr. Tutt 

 leans to the view that the sound is caused by the expulsion of air from 

 the oesophageal sac to the exterior at the base of the proboscis. Another 

 biological point of special interest, dealt with at length, is the " terrify- 

 ing " attitude and marking of the elpenor caterpillar. 



Full information on the occurrence and distribution of the various 

 species will be found, but we cannot congratulate Mr. Tutt on his ar- 

 rangement of this material. The counties of all divisions of the United 

 Kingdom are given alphabetically, e.g., Aberdeen, Armagh, Berks. 

 Consequently it requires no little patience to trace the Irish range of 

 any particular insect. The only other serious criticism which we are 

 disposed to make is that structural figures of the characters relied on for 

 the separation of the genera would have added largely to the value of 

 the book. 



But Mr. Tutt has given us so much that it is perhaps ungracious to 

 complain that we have not more. The volumes are unrivalled as a 

 scientific account of the families of which they treat, and we do not 

 wonder that the author, realizing the magnitude of the task on which 

 he has entered, asks for collaborators to aid him in the volumes yet to 

 come. We heartily wish him worthy helpers and a joyful completion of 

 his great work. 



G. H. C 



