REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 223 



neath the staging of the house, reducing my stock to seven. On 

 April 'lOth one had pu])ated, and by the 2Hrd four others. Two 

 at this stage sickened and ilied, probably owing to the necessarily 

 close atmosphere in which they had been reared. On May 15)th two 

 imagines appeared in the breeding-cage, and the three others on the 

 22nd, one of which was unfortunately a cripple. The four perfect 

 specimens are of fair average size, and all are of the primrose-tinted 

 form. — W. G. Sheldon, Heimath, Friend's Hoad, Crovdon. May 'ZHth, 

 1901. 



Er^EYIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



" Pkactical hints kor the field lepidopterist," by -I. W. Tutt, 

 F.E.S. London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.C., Price 5 6 

 net. (interleaved 6 -) i . — It is difficult to estimate how much the 

 present generation of entomologists — whether systematists or field- 

 workers — are indebted to Mr. Tutt for his successful effoi'ts to provide 

 us with interesting hand-books, and so to popularise our very fascinat- 

 ing pursuit. His latest work is of the most practical character, being 

 a very large mass of hints, contributed and original, as to the habits 

 and methods of obtaining a considerable proportion of our British 

 lepidoptera. However long and carefully an individual collectoi- may 

 have worked, it is no exaggeration to say that almost every page of 

 this book will reveal to him some fact which had not come within the 

 range of his personal observation. Valuable as are the " Practical 

 Hints" published from time to time in the Record, they are unfortu- 

 nately scattered through different volumes, and are not classified (as is 

 now the case) under the headings of the difterent families. One great 

 advantage of this system is that the Macro-lepidopterist can easily skip 

 those hints which concern the Micros only, and rirr lYisa. At times 

 the Editor launches out into a more general disijuisition, as when he 

 enthusiastically recommends his readers to devote some of their time 

 in .July to beating larva^. Our own personal experience is that with 

 the exception of oaks, which produce some of the better Notodonts, most 

 trees are singularly unproducti\'e at this sweltering time of year when, 

 also flies are so abundant (especially in woods) as to be an almost" 

 intolerable plague. A large number of garden flowers have been from 

 time to time reconniiended as proving attractive to night-flying moths, 

 j)erhaps the most favourite one beiiig red valerian ; but we have 

 found white valerian to be cpiite as nttractive, and it possesses the very 

 great advantage of rendering the dark-coloured insects that settle on it 

 extremely conspicuous, and therefore much more easy of capture, and 

 here we may convey the additioiuil hint (not. we think, contained in 

 ilio work under re\ic\v) that not only are the flowers of I l<s/H'rix 

 iinitiniiii/is (the gai'deii rocket) \ery attracti\e to Noctuids all -iune, but 

 the seed-pods are a food much beloved by the larva- of Knc/iloi' carda- 

 iiiinrs, which may generally be found resting thereon in goodly numbers 

 from the middle to the end of July. We cannot too strongly recom- 

 mend entomologists who have the s{)ace to spare to grow this plant in 

 quantities in their gardens in addition to such well-known sources of 

 attraction as sallows, rhododendrons, Li/r/niis of various species, and 

 hemp-agrimony. Here and there is to be found a statement that one 

 feels a little inclined to question, such as the recouniu^ndation to beat 

 oak for Trichiara crataeyi. Blackthorn and whitethorn are undoubtedly 



