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REVIEW. 



STEBBING, E. P. Indian Forest Insects of Economic Importance. 

 Coleoptera. London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, Ltd., 1914, pp. xvi-|-648, 

 Plates I-LXIII and 401 text-figures. 



The author of this work was formerly a divisional forest officer 

 in India who all through his career has devoted much of his energies 

 to entomology. It redounds to his credit that he urged the importance 

 of forest entomology in the eyes of the government of India, and in 

 this way did much towards securing the creation of an official post 

 to deal with the subject. In the year 1900 the office of Forest Ento- 

 mologist was established for a period of two years, and Mr Stebbing 

 appointed the first incumbent thereof. In 1904 the post was resanc- 

 tioned, while in 1906 it was merged into the new appointment of Forest 

 Zoologist. Mr Stebbing was also the first official Forest Zoologist to 

 the government of India. During his tenure of these appointments 

 he has produced a large amount of matter dealing with forest insects, 

 Pubhshed for the most part in sources not easily available to ento- 

 mologists, many of Mr Stebbing's writings are little known outside 

 India, and have seldom had the advantage of scientific criticism. 

 Observers in India are so few and far between that little has yet been 

 done towards confirming or extending Mr Stebbing's work. On his 

 departure from India he took upon himself the no light task of compihng 

 the book before us. Without hesitation it may be said that it is the 

 best piece of work Mr Stebbing has yet produced. Being free from 

 almost all the errors and faults which marred his previous text-book 

 of Indian Forest Zoology, we congratulate him on having written a 

 very readable and excellently arranged book. Notwithstanding the 

 title on its outside cover, the volume is limited to forest Coleoptera, 

 and in confining his remaxks to this single order of insects Mr Stebbing 

 has exercised a wise decision. To have included the remaining orders 

 would have savoured of indiscretion in view of the scanty state of 

 our knowledge of Indian forest insects. 



