224 The his h Naturalist, September, 



IRISH ENTOMOLOGY. 



A Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland. By W. F. de 



ViSMES Kane, M.A., MR.T.A., F.K.S., D.L. (Reprinted from the 

 Entomologisi). With a coloured plate. Pp. xviii. +viii. + l66. Londoa : 

 West, Newman & Co., 1901. 



A List of the Beetles of Ireland. B3' Rev. W. F. Johnson, 

 M.A., F.E.S., and J. N. Hai^berT. Proc. R.I. A. (3) vol. vi., pp. 

 535-S27. Dublin, 1902. 



It is perhaps appropriate that the present number of the Irish Naturalist, 

 containing a record of the life-work of that pioneer-prince of Irish 

 entomologists, A. H. Haliday, should call attention also to the labours of 

 his followers in recent years. The publication of these two memoirs 

 should call forth the gratitude of all who are interested in the natural 

 history of Ireland, for here may be found reliable information, so far as 

 we know it, as to the occurrence and distribution of Butterflies, Moths, 

 and Beetles in this country. Both Mr. Kane and Messrs. Johnson and 

 Halbert have spared no pains in verifj'ing old records. The result is 

 that many species, hitherto reputed to be Irish, have been expunged 

 from our lists, and the lepidopterist or coleopterist of the future will have 

 in these catalogues an entirely reliable foundation on which to build up 

 that complete knowledge of the Irish fauna to which we look forward 

 in the future golden age of science. 



Both lists, then, may be depended upon as trustworthy and accurate ; 

 but in the presentation of the facts, Mr. Kane's list shows a want of 

 system in comparison with that of Messrs. Johnson and Halbert, The 

 latter authors give a complete bibliography to which reference is con- 

 stantly made, whether the statement quoted is accepted, corrected, or 

 rejected; the reader can therefore look up any controverted point should 

 he wish to do so, and know exactly on whose authority any opinion 

 rests. Moreover, the distributional facts are given in a form most con- 

 venient for reference — first, the provinces, then (except in the case of 

 common and universally distributed species), the counties arranged in 

 regular geographical order, detailed localities being given with reference 

 to the bibliography in the case of the scarcer or more interesting beetles. 

 Finally, there is an index of the genera. In short, the " List " gives the 

 impression that its authors take faunistic work seriously, and consider 

 that if worth publishing at all it is worth treating as systematically 

 as any other branch of scientific study. Mr. Kane's list, on the other 

 baud, contains no bibliography, only a few scattered references being 

 given to guide the student to published records, while the distributional 

 facts are often set forth in the most unsystematic way. There are two 

 supplemental lists in which occur species not included in the main list, 

 but no indication is given by which such species may be distinguished 

 from those that are mentioned only for the sake of fresh localities. 



The most noteworthy facts in Mr. Kane'slist are furnished by the Hon. R. 

 E. Dillon's collections at Clonbrock, and the work of the ^Messrs. Donovan 

 in Co. Cork. These have been already mentioned in the Irish Naturalist 



