iss.^.l 263 



branches of Science during the year, and in its Entomological portion contains an 

 additional list of captures in the Coleoptera and Hemiptera, under the superin- 

 tendence of Messrs. Theod. Wood and H. Bedford Pirn. It is only to be regretted 

 that while these families are so assiduously worked, some other members of the 

 Society cannot be found to extend the list in the other less studied regions of the 

 insect world. 



Catalogue of British Coleoptera. By Rev. A. Matthews, M.A., and 

 Rev. W. W. FowLEK, M.A. London : West, Newman, & Co. 1883. 48pp. 8vo. 



In 1839, Stephens's " Manual of British Coleoptera " was published, and for 

 many years it served as the only professedly complete enumeration of British Beetles, 

 although some local lists did at times appear, the most considerable being Murray's 

 " Catalogue of the Coleoptera of Scotland " (18:j3). In 1858, Mr. G-. R. Waterhouse 

 brought out his " Catalogue of British Coleoptera," a work of great labour and re- 

 search, which placed us approximately in accord with continental nomenclature, and 

 gave a great stimulus to collecting and determining our native beetles. Rye's 

 Catalogue (1866) carried on the revision and incorporated the numerous additions ; 

 and about the same time (there is no date imprinted) appeared Crotch's "Catalogue," 

 differing in some respects from the others, but, except as a collection of names of 

 beetles, was useless to the student, by the omission of the names of the authors of 

 the genera and species. In 1871 was published Sharp's " Catalogue," continuing 

 the revision and additions up to date ; but it was marred by the omission of the 

 names of the authors of the genera. All the discoveries from 1855 to 1874 were 

 described or critically noticed year by year in the " Entomologist's Annual," and 

 since the latter year all the additions have been recorded from time to time in the 

 pages of this Magazine, and enumerated in the Index of each yearly volume. In 

 1882, Mr. Pascoe publislied his " Student's List of British Coleoptera," of great 

 value for its synoptic tables of Families and Genera, which serve, besides their 

 primary object, to show on what extremely slight grounds a great many so-called 

 genera are founded. All these labours have culminated in the present work, the 

 product of the combined assiduity and research of two well-known and competent 

 Coleopterists, which will tend still more to put us in agreement with the continuous 

 investigations of foreign workers. How necessary this has been is evident on the 

 consideration that Britain has no special fauna, but that, with the exception of some 

 casual immigrants, it consists of species which are the lineal descendants of those 

 which existed here at the time when this portion of Europe became detaclied from 

 the mainland, and its inhabitants were " peniius toto divisos orbe Britannos ;" that 

 as regards the insects, nearly without excej^tion, these species still exist on the con- 

 tinent, where they have been described and named, and the names thus given often 

 conflict for priority with those given by British Entomologists, precedence going 

 sometimes to one author sometimes to the other. There is, however, in this Cata- 

 logue, confessedly not much deviation from the nomenclature of its recent prede- 

 cessors ; the great difference from them lies in the arrangement. There are four 

 primary divisions in the following order : Allomeea containing Filicornia, Clavi- 

 coriiia, Lamellicornia, and Serricornia ; Tetramera containing lionglcornia and 

 Monilicornia ; Heteeomeea and Rhyxchophora ; with divisions into tribes and 

 families, &c. The scheme is, to a great extent, that of Leeonte and Horn j the 



