212 THE entomologist's record. 



collated therein, and, on the plea, that they are to aid beginners rather 

 than intended to be of service to men who wish to become students, it 

 has resulted that a whole series of such books has been printed, con- 

 taining not one single iota of original information, often full of the 

 grossest blunders relating to the commonest species, copied from authors 

 who flourished at least 100-150 years ago, usually due to ignorance of 

 the synonymy used by the original describers whose facts are correct 

 enough but apply to other species than those to which the modern 

 book-maker has applied them. These books are, by the confession of 

 the authors, not meant to help the real entomologist, but the authors 

 all the same would be grossly indignant if one suggested that, like- 

 the famous razors, the books were made to sell. 



Of recent years, Germany has stood pre-eminent in this class of 

 book, and England stands but little behind, but, in one respect, 

 Germany has outdistanced England completely, and that is in the 

 excellence of its illustration by various colour processes. The result 

 has been that several editions of some of these works have been 

 published, and have paid merely because of the plates. One of our 

 chief purveyors of these German works in England recently told the 

 writer that it was no uncommon thing for the English buyer to take 

 out the plates and leave the letterpress (so useless is it) in the shop,, 

 whilst the profit on these works was so much higher than that 

 obtained on English publications of good class, that it paid the English 

 bookseller to push the German product. Whilst one would, in the 

 cause of science, therefore, have had no good cause for complaint 

 against these works, had the letterpress really been on the same level 

 as the plates, or even accurate in spite of its being so absolutely 

 elementary, yet, as pointed out above, the letterpress is really beneath 

 contempt and hopelessly useless for any scientific purpose. These are 

 picture books, usually accurately named as to the pictures, and nothing 

 more. 



That such books represent the general level of entoinology through- 

 out Europe is certain. In most of the countries of Europe, collectors 

 flourish exceedingly, butterflies and moths are caught in thousands, 

 sold in thousands, to make collections, and for no further scientific 

 purpose whatever, and these books enable these collectors to name 

 their specimens more or less correctly, and this is all they want. 

 Even a great deal of the experimental work of lepidopterology has 

 been carried out for commercial purposes, and hybrids are reared, 

 aberrations and varieties (local races) described, not to add primarily to 

 scientific knowledge, but for the purposes of sale, and to add value to 

 the specimens by having a name attached to them ; whilst we heard, 

 during a recent trip to Switzerland, of a well-known Doctor attached 

 to a Continental University who collects all the specimens he can 

 whilst on his holidays, sells all not required by himself, and so tries 

 to pay the expenses of his holiday out of his duplicates. That all 

 this must react unsatisfactorily on scientific entomology is quite 

 apparent. 



One of the most popular of this superficial class of illustrated works 

 has for years been Berge's Schmetterlimiabuch, of which eight editions 

 had been published under various editors before 1910. This year a 

 9th edition has been issued, "■= for which Dr. Rebel is responsible. 



* E. Schweizerbart, Stuttgart. Pag«s 1-114, 1-509 ; 53 coloured plates ; 219 

 text figures. 



