ms.] 21 



Catalogue of British Coleoptera, by David Sharp, M.B.,&c., 2nd edition. 

 London : E. W. Janson, 35, Little Russell Street ; March, 1883. 39 pp. 8vo. 



Dr. Sharp is so justly accepted as an authority among Colcopterists, both in this 

 country and abroad, and his catalogue has been so long in use, and of such service 

 to British students, that it is not necessary for us to say much in its favour, but we 

 may remark that this 2nd edition is in every respect equal to the first, and is of a 

 rather smaller and more convenient form. 



There is only one important change made in the arrangement of the families, 

 viz., the removal of the ErotyJidce, Endomychidfe, and Coccinellidce from the end of 

 the an-angement to a situation between the Lathridiida and Mycetophagidce. 

 Among the genera the changes are more numerous, especially in the Dytiscidce and 

 Staph ylinidcB ; these families are well known to be favourites of the author, and we 

 think all will acknowledge that the new genera represent very natural groups of 

 species. The alterations in the sequence of the genera at the commencement of the 

 Staphylinido'., the separation of Driisilla from 3Iynnedonia, and of Gnypeta, 

 Epipeda, and Brachyda from Homalota, seem to us to be most desirable, and the 

 positions assigned to them natural and satisfactory ; to adopt all Thomson's divi- 

 sions of Homalota would be perplexing, but we regard these three as well selected, 

 as no one could have considered their representatives as belonging natui-ally to 

 Homalota, notwithstanding the comprehensive nature of that wonderful genus. On 

 the whole, we may say that as few changes as possible seem to have been made in 

 the catalogue, but what have been made, we think, are necessary. In specific names, 

 a great many changes occur in the family Chrysomelidce, and notably in Donacia, 

 where " priority " has necessitated the abandonment of many well-known names, 

 still we fully admit the necessity of this rule, although its application often causes 

 considerable temporary inconvenience. 



There are two small matters we do not like in the catalogue : one is the omission 

 of capitals to names of persons in connection with specific names ; the other, and 

 more serious, is the omission of the authors' names to the genera ; but these are of 

 small importance where all else is so well and satisfactorily done. 



^bituarg. 



William Alexander Forhes, B.A., F.L.S., died at Shonga on the Upper Niger, 

 on January 14th, at the early age of 28, a victim to his enthusiasm in the cause of 

 Natural History. He was the second son of Mr. J. S. Forbes, the well-known 

 railway director, and was born at Cheltenham on June 24th, 1855 ; he was educated 

 chiefly at Winchester, and entered St. John's College, Cambridge, as an under- 

 graduate in 1876, where he took high honours in natural science. Forbes was a 

 born naturalist, and for many years devoted himself to entomology with much ardour. 

 During his residence at Cambridge he took a prominent part in resuscitating the ento- 

 mological society of that university town, and organized a regular series of excursions 

 in connection with it during the season. Moreover, he made many excursions in the 

 Alps in search of insects, an account of some of which will be found in the volumes 

 of this magazine. Perhaps natural predilection for anatomical studies, combined 

 with the magnitude of the subject of entomology, gradually turned his attention 



