yo The Field Natiiralisfs Quarterly Feb. 



" Contrary lo popular belief on the subject, a severe winter is favour- 

 able to insect life ; for the majority of insects are then in the &%% stage, 

 and their eggs can withstand a considerable degree of frost without 

 losing their vitality, whilst the ranks of the insect-eating birds are sadly 

 thinned by cold. 



" Though we can hunt for insects' eggs in January, many will perhaps 

 be willing to indorse the view that February is the month in which out- 

 door natural history should begin. If we choose a bright day ... we 

 may collect a goodly variety of eggs. Cheap pill-boxes will be the best 

 form of collecting apparatus, and great care must be taken to note the 

 food-plant in each case, as few of us are likely to be able to identify all 

 the eggs we find, until they have hatched, and the larva seems to come 

 into the world with a mind so exclusively set upon eating that his life 

 will brook no delay." 



Altogether, ' The Country Month by Month ' must prove a most valu- 

 able help to field naturalists in the intelligent pursuit of their hobbies. 



British Vegetable Galls. Edward T. Connold, F.E.S. Hutch- 

 inson & Co. Price los. 6d., already raised to 15s. 



Mr Connold, who is the secretary of the Hastings and St Leonards 

 Natural History Society, is to be congratulated on the completion of 

 his labours, and his book will be a welcome addition to the somewhat 

 sparse literature of this subject, welcome alike to the botanical and 

 entomological student. As far as we are aware, it is the first work of 

 its kind which deals exhaustively with the subject, and is the result of 

 years of patient practical study and research on the part of a conscien- 

 tious field naturalist. The author has adopted an easy colloquial style, 

 while at the same time carefully avoiding the sacrifice of the technique. 

 A definite plan has been adopted for a concise and clear description of 

 the specimens, and a synoptical table formulated, and each gall is de- 

 scribed according to its plan, thus producing a uniformity throughout 

 the entire work which is one of its distinctive features. 



The 300 pages of letterpress are illustrated by 1 30 full-page plates 

 and 27 small drawings. All the specimens were collected by (or for) 

 the author expressly for this work, and were photographed by himself. 

 No praise can be too high for the manner in which the publishers have 

 reproduced these photographs, — they are true works of art. They are 

 so arranged that the distinctive features of each gall may be easily 

 recognised. 



In the opening chapters the author deals with the nature of galls, 

 their sizes, shapes, and colours ; the collecting, mounting, and pre- 

 serving of them ; their mode of growth ; their classification ; and the 

 agents concerned in their production. The next portion of the volume 

 is devoted to detailed descriptions of about 100 difi"erent galls, these 

 being divided into root-galls, stem-galls, leaf-galls, and flower-galls. 

 The book concludes with several tables of galls, makers, plants, oak-galls, 

 &c., and a bibliography, all of which are valuable. About 340 galls 

 are mentioned in the book, which will give the reader some idea of 

 the extent of the subject. 



