i66 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



as Mr. Clarke states in his Introduction, it "is a landmark in the Progress of 

 Physical Science. From Aristotle and Theophrastus there is a great gap until 

 we reach Seneca ; the gap is still greater between Seneca and the Renascence, 

 from which the era of true science is to be dated. The Q[uaestiones] N[aturales] 

 is the last word spoken on the subject by the classical world." 



Ever useful is the impressive lesson conveyed by the author on the moral 

 influence of the study of Nature : why " it will be profitable for us to examine the 

 nature of the Universe. In the first place, we shall rise above what is base ; in 

 the second, we shall set the spirit free from the body, imparting to it that courage 

 and elevation of which it stands in need." 



We cordially recommend the book to all readers. In addition to the text we 

 have an introduction and notes by the translator, and the explanatory notes by 

 Sir Archibald Geikie to which reference has been made. Mr. Clarke must be 

 congratulated on overcoming the many difficulties of translation. He has put 

 the thoughts of the author into up-to-date language without "attributing to 

 Seneca ideas that were unknown to him, and are due to modern analysis and 

 discovery." 



John E. Marr. 



Indian Insect Life; a Manual of the Insects of the Plains. By H. Max- 

 well-Lefroy, M.A., F.E.S., F.Z.S., assisted by F. M. Howlett, B.A., 

 F.E.S. [Pp. xii -f 786.] (Calcutta and Simla : Thacker, Spink & Co. 

 1909. Price 30J.) 



This splendid volume — its weight makes the handling and using of it almost a 

 health exercise — is at once a monument of industry and a sign of the times in 

 biology. No science can more easily justify itself on the applied side than 

 entomology. When we remember that on continents abroad the destruction 

 done by insects to crops — agricultural, horticultural and forest — is equal to the 

 outlay necessary for the upkeep of an army and navy, or exceeds the money 

 necessary for the organisation and working of a national system of education, the 

 entomologist has no difficulty in justifying his subject. In India also great toll is 

 levied by insects. As the author says, apart from diseases due to attack upon man 

 or the domesticated animals by predaceous or disease-carrying insects, " locusts 

 lay waste a district, the boll-worm takes a tenth of the cotton crop or three- 

 quarters of it in an occasional year, the moth-borer kills one cane in three, the 

 rice hispa causes famine or the rice grasshopper destroys the paddy [rice] over a 

 whole division, no fruit industry can be established in places where fruit grows, 

 etc., etc.," and all due to insects. Again and again Homo sapiens of the books 

 has proved anything but efficient in his dealings with insects, and has had 

 unwillingly to own, as the author of this book naively says, that " not the least 

 among man's occupations is that of providing food and occupation for insects." 



This volume — the sections on Mallophaga, Diptera, Cimicidee and Anoplura 

 have been prepared by Mr. Howlett, and the portion on Insects and Flowers by 

 Mr. J. H. Burkill — has been written mainly for the use of students of entomology 

 in India, but is certain to be very useful to entomologists everywhere. After an 

 interesting though necessarily sketchy introduction on insect instinct and habit, 

 and a glance at the difficulties attending present attempts at a scientific classi- 

 fication of insects, Mr. Maxwell-Lefroy gives a helpful resume of the various 

 insect families, grouped according to food and habit, under the headings : 

 I. Land Insects— herbivorous, parasitic and predaceous: II. Salt-water Insects ; 



