REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 333 



Boyd exhibited a box of micro-lepidoptera collected in Lancashire and 

 Cheshire during the past season. Mr. F. N. Pierce a box of 

 Huntingdonshire Lepidoptera. 



;]i^EYIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



The Macrolepidoptera of the World, Vol. 1., The Pal^arctic 

 Butterflies, 89 coloured plates (8,470 figures). By Dr. Adalbert 

 Seitz, Stuttgart. Price £3 (Messrs. Kernen, Stuttgart, Germany.— 

 The first volume of Dr. Adelbert Seitz's work. The Macio-lepuloptera 

 of the World, has just been completed. This volume embraces the 

 Palasarctic butterflies, which are figured on 89 plates. As it is 

 the plates which are the outstanding feature of the work, we will 

 speak of them first. In the great majority the figures are remark- 

 ably good, and there are very few bad or misleading representa- 

 tions. We do not like hellargus or coridon on pi. 81. The figure 

 on the same plate of apennina, would, however, serve admirably 

 for the vast majority of British coridon. The metallic lustre of many 

 Lyca^nids, but particularly of hrillantina and ia.rila, on pi. 73, is 

 wonderfully produced. One wonders why a similar lustre was not 

 attempted for the " coppers " on pi. 76. The pair of 0. dispar on the 

 latter plate are very undersized, and the rntilas 5 even exceeds the 

 di,spar 2 . It appears evident that the plates have not all been executed 

 by the same firm, for the paper is of different thicknesses and quality, 

 and some plates are vastly superior in the execution of the figures to 

 others. Plates 29, 30 and 31 of the genus Lethe are beautiful examples 

 of reproduction, and the paper is of a suitable thickness for a large-sized 

 plate. Plates 20 and 62, the former of "whites," the latter of species 

 of Vanessa, are certainly poor bj- comparison, and are on very much 

 thinner paper, with hardly any stiffening. The species of the genus 

 Coliai<, on plates 26 and 27, lack the tone that the living insects possess, 

 while the very next plate of Danais and Eiiploea is a wonderfully true 

 likeness of the insects it illustrates. Students of the Paltearctic 

 butterflies must rejoice to have all the species and a very large percentage 

 of the known forms illustrated, and well illustrated, Avithin the covers of 

 a single volume. It is the first time it has ever been done on such a 

 scale, and although it has taken five years to accomplish 

 (1906-11), we can truly say this collection of plates has been 

 well worth waiting for. There is a small matter before we leave 

 the plates that calls for notice. It is that many of these are 

 inserted before they are properly dry and with the consequence that 

 they stick to the paper they come in contact with. Frequently, this 

 entails the adhesion of pieces of paper to the figures. This can be 

 remedied by moistening such places and gently rubbing with a pointed 

 piece of stick, but it entails time and labour unnecessarily spent. 

 With the first two or three parts tissue paper was inserted against the 

 plates, but this has long been discontinued, with the results given 

 above. With such a splendid set of plates it is to be regretted that the 

 accompanying letterpress is so superficial. It is a great mistake to 

 suppose that anyone without a special knowledge can name specimens 

 of any but the best defined species from a figure and two lines of 

 description. If one is a specialist or already has a fair knowledge of 

 one's insects, the present work must be of considerable utility in 

 naming a given insect. 



