192 THE entomologist's eecobd. 



The Proceedings of the South London Entomological and Natural 

 History Society, for 1904-5, have just been issued. The volume consists 

 of 104 pages and a chart of the Eynsford district, a favourite collecting- 

 ground of the members of this society. There are a number of interest- 

 ing papers and accounts of collecting expeditions, of which Mr. Sich's 

 paper, "Notes on the genus Coleophora,'" is much above the average. 

 Mr. Sich is an excellent observer, a clear expounder of his observations, 

 and altogether in the first rank of entomological naturalists, a statement 

 abundantly verified by his excellent Presidential address. The Rev. 

 F. H. Wood's paper, " Notes on Argyroneta aquatica and some other 

 Spiders," is also stimulating, and more or less an excellent model for 

 papers read before such societies as this. Altogether a volume quite 

 up to the usual standard, and well worthy of a place on the bookshelves 

 of every British naturalist. 



The May part of the Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural 

 History Society and Field Club (Dulan & Co., 37, Soho Square, London, 

 W.) contains an interesting paper on the " Lepidoptera observed in 

 Hertfordshire in 1904," by Mr. A. E. Gibbs, F.L.S., and another on 

 the " Variation in Irish Melitaea aurinia," by Mr. V. P. Kitchin, B.A. 

 All students of the local fauna will be much interested in the former, 

 whilst the later will appeal even more widely. 



Proposed new Natural History of British Butterflies. 



The ditficulty of getting copies of our work, British Butterflies, 

 published in 1896, and then written to order, and not including any of 

 the material that we had long been collecting for a really good advanced 

 text-book, has recently led us into considerable correspondence with 

 several lepidopterists as to the publication of a text-book on advanced 

 lines. The large amount of unpublished first-hand material that we have 

 collected during the last 15 years is very considerable (the paper on 

 which the notes are written weighs possibly more than a quarter-of-a- 

 hundredweight, and should be an excellent index of its value ! ), and yet, 

 when one begins to dissect it, one finds many little details concerning the 

 biology of the commonest species, of which there appear to be no records, 

 and hence progress in its sorting, arrangement and completion must 

 necessarily be somewhat slow. It has been suggested that the book 

 might be published monthly in Is. parts, and, with the rest of our 

 entomological work on hand, this appears to be the most that could be 

 done, if the work is to be something more than a manual for school- 

 boys, and a book from which everyone can learn something. One 

 supposes that there would be from 25 to 30 parts, and it would be 

 illustrated by process work and photography, as completely as possible. 

 Mr. Tonge has promised his aid with the eggs (in fact a large 

 percentage of them is in hand), and larv«, pupae, and imagines of each 

 species will, as far as possible, be given. The first part will be ready 

 by September, but, in the meantime, it is necessary to appeal for a 

 small guarantee list of subscribers, so that we can go forward without 

 a possibility of actual loss. The life-histories will follow, more or less, 

 those in The Natural History of the British Lepidoptera, a little less 

 in detail, and without such comprehensive lists of dates of appearance, 

 and lists of continental localities as those to which some exception has 

 been taken. The book will naturally be co-operative, an accumulation 

 of the knowledge of many, and any help will be thankfully received. 

 Names should be sent to — J. W. Tutt, 119, Westcombe Hill, S.E. 



