52 THE entomologist's record. 



Ji^EVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



[Practical Hints for the Field Lepidopterist, Part III. By 

 J. W. Tutt, F.E.S. Price 6s. net (interleaved). Published by 

 Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster-row, E.G.] . — The issue of the third part 

 of this notable work completes what at its inception the author called 

 a " little brochure," but which has now assumed the proportions of a 

 respectable volume. Originally intended as a reprint, and orderly 

 condensation, of the " Practical Hints" accumulated in the Kntnmolo- 

 ;/ist's Record and Journal of Variation, it has been enriched by notes 

 and suggestions from practical entomologists in all parts of the United 

 Kingdom, until, in its complete condition, it contains a mass of 

 precise information on the habits of lepidoptera and kindred subjects, 

 such as has never before been presented to British or world-wide 

 lepidopterists. From the commencement the work has taken the 

 form of an extended Merrin's Calendar, blended with a reflection of 

 those charming fore- words which have for so many years been a 

 comfort and encouragement to readers of Stainton's Manual. But in 

 these Prartical Hints we have more than this. Beyond the quotation 

 of standard works, such as Buckler, Hellins, and, of course, Greene, 

 hearsay and tradition have no, or at the most the very minimum of, 

 place. These "Hints" are written by practical collectors, who are 

 themselves adepts as concerns the species about which they write. 

 This would appear to us one of the strongest points about the book. 

 The information is reliable. As the information is spread over the 

 whole of the year, it will be seen that the work serves the double 

 purpose of telling one the characteristics of the species and also irlicrr 

 and trhen to seek it, generally in its different stages. But the author 

 is nothing if not up-to-date, and, in Part iii, he supplies mental food 

 not only for the simple collector, but also for the would-be scientist. 

 It is divided into two sections, and the first of these calls for special 

 notice and commendation as supplying a want which has been long 

 felt among entomologists. It deals practically with " Collectors," 

 "Collections," " The egg and egg-stage," " Larva and larval stage," 

 " Pupa and pupal stage." The collector is usually a man of limited 

 means and leisure, keen on his collection, and careful in his observa- 

 tions, but without the training which permits him to record his 

 observations in the manner demanded by modern science (the 

 terminology of which is often foreign to him), yet not unwilling to 

 make his work scientific if he can. He often sees, no doubt, descrip- 

 tions of eggs, larvae, or pupfe, which he has hard work to understand. 

 He turns up his Newman and finds that Newman's butterflies and 

 moths were generally without eggs or pupae, and that the larva) are 

 described without any note of the essential structural features, which 

 point out its close relationship with other species, and he possibly 

 cannot afford Buckler's Lanae, an expensive work so far as the 

 letterpress is concerned, but cheap enough when the beautiful figures 

 are taken into consideration ; but even this is not modern or up-to- 

 date, and is only, after all, a stepping-stone to modern work. 

 The fact of the matter is, that there are men hard at work, who 

 are, at the present time, making modern scientific entomology. Bacot 

 and Dyar have, as it were, constructed the scheme upon which larval 

 work is done, and Chapman and Poulton have done the same for pupal 



