4 THE KNTOMOLOGIST S UECORD, 



" On the vertical distribution and derivation of the Rhopalocera in 

 the Pyrenees," etc., etc. (Bath, Knt<»ii.). We can only say of these 

 that we envy the author's flow of mystifying verbiage, but when this 

 has been separated from the remainder (and there appears very little 

 left), one is inclined to wonder whether the notions of the Alps, based 

 on the witness of one's senses, must undergo reconstruction. We 

 have got beyond those early days when we thought that every- 

 thing that puzzled us must of necessity represent a vast depth of 

 wisdom. 



.. Of separate works there are some exceedingly good ones, the best — 

 "Uber die palpen der Rhopaloceren " (Renter) and " Bombycine 

 Moths of America " (Packard). Of purely British works the writer's 

 " British Moths " (Routledge and Son) has been published to take the 

 place of Wood's " Common British Moths," which was so wofully out 

 of date, Avhilst " British Butterflies " (Gill and Son) is simply a 

 cheap Newman up to date, the life-history, synonymy, distribution, 

 etc., of every British species being fully written up, and figures of 

 every species given. " New experiments on the seasonal dimorphism of 

 Lepidoptera " (Weismann) has been translated in an excellent manner 

 by Mr. W. E. Nicholson. " Butterflies" (Kirby), although presenting 

 no attractions to the purely British collector, is of the greatest use to 

 entomologists interested in geographical distribution. " British 

 Sphingida3 " (Lucas) is a very useful little brochure, whilst a still 

 smaller volume is "Insects and Spiders," which deals with the 

 physiology and anatomy of insects in a concise manner. The expensive 

 work, " The Lepidoptera of the British Islands " (Barrett), is, after five 

 years, quite in its infancy, only apart of the old Macro-Lepidoptera as yet 

 having been dealt with. We have just received from Mr. N. M. Richard- 

 son a pamphlet entitled " Tinea rinctilella, a species of Lepidoptera new 

 to the British fauna," and illustrated in her usual careful, artistic 

 and correct manner, by Mrs. Richardson. 



We have only touched on a few of the points that naturally occur 

 to us, when mentally reviewing 1896 from an entomological standpoint. 

 To-morrow is New Year's Day. Our fervent hope is that 1897 may 

 prove a successful season alike to the collector, to the observer, and 

 to the student. May our societies prosper, and may the entomological 

 literature of the forthcoming year exceed in scientific value that of the 

 past. 



Neuration of the Rhopalocera** (Illustrated by Plate). 



By AMBEOSE QUAIL. 



On the argument that " modification tends to reduce the number 

 of nervules" ((/»^', vol. viii., p. 15B), it seems logical to consider 

 that, of any superfamily, the genus or family which has the greatest 

 number of nervules, is the lowest. 



In the Rhopalocera, PAPiLioNm^ has the greatest (total) number 

 of fore-wing nervules (Plate I., fig. 1), but one less hind- wing (anal) 

 nervule, than the Pierids and Nymphalids. Certain characters, viz., 

 the fore-wing cubitus-anal connection, one of the anal nervules, and 

 hind-wing subcostal radius connection in the PAPiLioNiDiE, are modi- 



* Extract from paper read before the North London Nat. Hist. Society, Aug., 1896, 



