214 The Irish Naturalist. July, 



fauna and flora is of pre-glacial age." Geologists, as is mentioned by 

 Dr. Scharff, are far from agreeing as to the exact conditions of the Ice 

 Age and the nature of its climate. But how many geologists would 

 accept, as an adequate statemeut of the conditions, Dr. Scharff's admission 

 " that glaciers existed more extensively than at present " ? It cannot be 

 doubted that this like many other discrepancies in scientific interpre- 

 tation will in the end be helpful in leading us to clear and true views. 

 What is now required is a careful revision of the geological evidence 

 bearing on the Glacial Period with due weight accorded to the distribu- 

 tional facts which are so admirably set forth in the volume before us. 

 When this has been done, we shall be able to re -write in detail the 

 historj 7 of our islands and our continent. Irish naturalists may justly 

 feel proud of Dr. Scharff s contributions to the great problem, especially 

 because his interest in the fauna of Ireland has led him on step by step 

 to ever widening fields of study, as the Irish scholars of long ago left 

 traces of their paths in the isles of the northern Atlantic and by the 

 waters of the southern sea. 



G. H. C. 



FOR MOTH COLLECTORS. 



The Insect Hunter's Companion, By the Rev. Joseph Greene, 

 M.A. Being instructions for collecting and preserving Butterflies, 

 Moths, Beetles, Bees, Flies, &c. Revised and Extended by A. B. Farn. 

 5th edition. London : West, Newman & Co., 1907. Pp. 120. Price 

 is. bd. net. 



It is pleasant to welcome this " old friend in a new dress." The prac- 

 tical little book of the late Mr. Greene, who, thirty years and more ago, 

 was adding to our knowledge of the Lepidoptera of Ireland, will still be 

 useful to the young entomologists of to-day. It cannot be said that Mr. 

 Farn has brought the book " up to date." Had he done so it would have 

 been an entirely different work. The classification, the nomenclature, 

 the absence of morphological interest, mark the book as a product of the 

 past, and the young collector who works with this alone will find that 

 he has much to change in his mental outlook when he mixes with 

 students of insects trained on modern lines. But the work is before all 

 an insect hunter's companion, and the joys of the entomological chase, 

 usually innocent, despite the rapacity of many collectors, are still as fresh 

 as they were thirty years ago. Mr. Greene's directions for the capture of 

 inoths 3 caterpillars, and pupae are as valuable as ever, and his anecdotes 

 will not grow stale. By far the greater part of the book is allotted to the 

 " Macrolepidoptera." Mr. Farn adds a short chapter on "Microlepi- 

 doptera, 1 ' and Mr. E. A. Fitch contributes two pages on the breeding of 

 gall-flies. 



G. H. C. 



