1901.] 77 



the revision of proofs ; sentences antl paragraphs have been passetl by our author 

 whieh would have been the better for remodelling. This want of care in editing is 

 one of the most serious faults in the volume. 



On settling down to study the volume in detail, the terminology employed soon 

 obtrudes itself on our notice. Our author (it is believed) was a pupil in Dipterology 

 of the late Dr. H. Loew, and it is to be regretted that in this matter he has departed 

 from the teachings of his master. When Loew wrote Part I of the Monographs of 

 the Diptera of North America he was probably near the zenith of his reputation, 

 and the deliberate conclusions then arrived at by him should not be lightly thrown 

 aside. What particularly commended itself in the Loewian terminology was its 

 simplicity ; the small cross vein is present in the wings of almost all Diptera, and 

 the recollection that it stood on the discal cell, connected the 3rd and 4th longitu- 

 dinal veins, and formed one of the boundaries of the 1st posterior cell, gave a 

 starting point from which to identify the other veins and cells. According to our 

 author's terminology, as explained at p. 14, we are expected to cumber our brains 

 with such terms as subcostal, radial, cubital, discal, and postical veins, in lieu of 

 the old familiar 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th longitudinal veins, while other old 

 friends, such as small cross vein, posterior cell, &c., masquerade in new guise. All 

 these innovations are o]iposed to the terminology almost universally employed, and 

 probably most Dipterologists will agree with the writer in looking upon the use of 

 them as a decided step of retrogression. 



The descriptions (with the exception of the faults of editing already referred 

 to) are excellent, probably the best being those dealing with the Plnfi/pezUlfP, Pipiin- 

 culidre, and with the genus Platychira ; in all of these oi'dcr has been evolved out 

 of chaos. Of the descriptions generally nothing but praise can be said, thougli a 

 mild protest may be raised against the use of the comparative degree in the manner 

 so often employed by our author, and also against the use of such terms as " tip 

 half," "shelved off," &c. ; these, after all, are faults of style rather than faults of 

 scientific description. A word of praise too must be given to the " keys," which 

 are a pleasing contrast to some we have seen lately from the pens of Meade, Willis- 

 ton, Brauer and Bergenstamm, &c. ; size is an unsatisfactory character for use in a 

 key — possibly in the Pipiincttlidte no better character was found available. Re- 

 garding the geographical distribution of species in the British Isles it may be noted 

 that many common species reach a higher latitude than anything given by our 

 author ; e. <j., Chri/sochlamtfn citprea, Sphegina clttnipes, ArctophUa mussitans, 

 Chrt/sotoxum hici)ictum, among them, all occur at Grolspie, while some of them get 

 so far north as Thurso, further, it is noteworthy that throughout the volume only 

 one single Irish locality is given. 



Congratulating Mr. Collin on his illustrations is a pleasing task ; the combina- 

 tion of skill with the pencil and knowledge of Dipterology is given to comparatively 

 few ; for a young artist to have scored so distinct a success at his first attempt is 

 indeed a subject for congratulation. 



The Synonymic Catalogue will probably receive more criticism on the Continent 

 than in this country, where workers at foreign Diptera are few and far between ; 

 still attention may be drawn to the following points : — Eristalis puncttfer, Walker, 

 is a synonym of E. quiiiqitelineatits, not of E. teeniops as recorded by our author ; 



