fj2 [Fybruary, 



other important ones which I omitted, 1st, the shorter 2nd autennal joint in tenella, 

 which is about a third shorter than the apical joint, and secondly, the reflexed lateral 

 margins of the pronotum in that species, which are quite simple in distingue nda. — 

 Edwaed Saundeks, St. Ann's, Woking : January 8th, 1892. 



'^tvitxvB. 



Die Kafee von Mittbleueopa ; Erster Band.: by Ludwig G-anglbauee. 

 Pp. 557, large 8vo. Vienna, 1892. 



Vienna has for a long time past had the honour of supplying students of Euro- 

 pean Coleoptera with an acceptable work for determining their collections. Ludwig 

 Kedtenbacher's " Fauna Austriaca ; die Kafer " went through three editions, the 

 last appearing in 1874 ; and since then the Bestimmungs-Tabelle of Herr Reitter, 

 of Vienna, have been much in demand. Now Herr Ludwig G-anglbauer, the worthy 

 successor of Redtenbacher in the Natural History Museum at Vienna, has had the 

 courage to undertake the difficult task of furnishing a new work descriptive of all the 

 Coleoptera found in Central Europe. 



This first volume is devoted to the " Caraboidea." The w^ork is expected to be 

 completed in six volumes, and the second volume, devoted to " Staphylinoidea," is 

 now in course of preparation. 



The volume is a great advance on its predecessors in the same field, and will be 

 found far more satisfactory to work with ; the great deficiencies of the previous 

 Viennese works we have alluded to were that they were almost confined to complex 

 tables, and gave little or no information as to variation and habitat. Herr Grangl- 

 bauer has availed himself of the assistance of well-prepared analytical tables, but 

 has not trusted exclusively to them, each species being also described separately. 

 Most of the important synonymy is given accompanied by references ; there is a 

 fair amount of information as to varieties, but the indications as to habitat are 

 perhaps rather too much generalized. Taken altogether there can be no doubt that 

 this is the best systematic work that has yet been produced on the Coleoftera of a 

 large division of the European fauna. Unfortunately it is not accompanied by 

 plates, though there are a few woodcuts in the text. Herr Granglbauer includes in 

 his series Caraboidea not only the Qtjrinidce, but also the Faussidre and Rhysodidcs, 

 and in his definition of the series he assists himself by reference to the larvse, and 

 to the wing neuration. It is clear that as practical aids to the determination of 

 Coleoptera these characters are of little value, while as seientific expositions they 

 are open to the objection that they have been tested only in the case of a compara- 

 tively small number of the forms to which they are supposed to apply. We mention 

 this merely because we do not wish that the hearty approbation we give to the book 

 for its general execution shall be taken as expressive of approval of all its details. — 

 D. Shaep. 



The Butteeflies of Noeth Ameeioa : by W. H. Edwaeds. 3rd Series, 

 Part xii. Boston and New York : Houghton, Mifilin, and Co. 1891. 



This is an unusually interesting Part. It is occupied by Papilio americus, 

 KoU. ; P. Zolicaon, Bdv., transformations showing the great dimorphism of the 



