78 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Feb. 



Full directions are given on the methods most in vogue for catching 

 Moths and Butterflies, the localities most frequented being described as 

 well as the procedure for treacling, beating, &c. The approximate stay 

 of each bird in England is stated, together with the locality of its nest, 

 and average number of eggs. Plants are arranged according to the 

 months in which they flower. 



All the information is exactly that required by the ordinary field 

 worker, who will find this book an invaluable guide to his work, and one 

 which will enable him to overcome many practical difficulties. Mr Wood 

 advises the moth-hunter to take the local lamp-lighter into service, a 

 distinctly good idea ; but our author seems to have met with trouble 

 from the police force, for he complains that "Bobby" does not under- 

 stand the desire of the entomologist to climb street lamp-posts for 

 anything less than half-a-crown. No smaller sum, we are assured, will 

 persuade him that you have no felonious intentions. This information 

 is doubtless valuable, but the book would lose little by its omission. 

 Referring to the space required in cabinets, Mr Wood says that a very 

 small amount will suffice for the Large Copper Butterfly : presumably 

 he means that the collector will not be able to afford to purchase 

 many, the species having become extinct since about 1848, as our 

 readers will recollect from an article on it in our last issue. 



An interesting paragraph is that on the difficulty of killing some 

 insects, — the movements after extraction of the abdomen, injection of 

 poison, &c, being very remarkable in some cases. Mr Wood terms 

 these movements " reflectively muscular," meaning, we presume, 

 "reflexly." Whether reflex or not, there is certainly no reflection on 

 the part of the insect in these cases. 



We cordially recommend this compilation to all field workers ; it will 

 prove of the greatest assistance on very many points. 



A First Book of Forestry. By F. Roth. London : Ginn & Co. 

 Price 3s. 6d. 

 We have but one fault to find with this interesting book, and that is 

 the irritating way in which the author is constantly issuing invitations to 

 his readers to " Let us " do something or other. Such expressions as 

 il Let us take a stroll," " Let us break through," &c. ; " Let us walk on," 

 " Let us examine," " Let us count," " Let us look," — the last three 

 within seven lines, — " Let us dig," " Let us count " again, " Let us go," 

 " Let us now see," are scattered wholesale throughout the work, and de- 

 tract somewhat from the pleasure of continuous reading. But the matter, 

 apart from the style, is excellent. Part I. deals with the effect of light 

 and shade, soils, moisture, heat and cold, and mountains on the forest. 

 Part II. treats of raising and keeping up the forest, its care and protec- 

 tion, its uses, business, and special kinds of forests. Part III. is devoted 

 to such related topics as the value of forests as protective cover ; the 

 structural, physical, chemical, and other properties of woods ; also how 

 to distinguish our common trees. There are three appendices, the first 

 being the Doyle-Scribner Log Scale for estimating the number of board 

 feet in a log of given diameter. On p. 96 is a table showing the six 



