f)± [Soptumbcr, 



facts that in certain cases tlie so-called larva and pupce of some Dipterous insects are 

 capable of producing young before they have assiuued the final stage. With facts 

 lite these before him, the most determined naturalist of the old school must pause 

 before lie dismiss the theories of the evolutionists as the wild phantasies of visionaries. 

 Dr. Packard incidentally treats upon the origin of wings, but makes no mention of 

 the theories of Landois and Plateau, who produce evidence to prove that tliey are 

 developed from the thoracic trachese. He holds a somewhat similar view, but he 

 considers wings may be represented by tracheal appendages on any part of the body 

 of a larval form, such, for instance, as the gill-like tails of the larva of Agrion. This, 

 to us, is a very startling theory, for we fail to see any necessity for homologizing such 

 caudal appendages with the thoracic wings of the imago ; like wings, they may be 

 external expansions of tracheaj, but to call them ' aquatic wings ' looks like inventing 

 an unnecessary term. 



The pampMet is illustrated by many exceedingly good wood-cuts, and is valu- 

 able, not only for the author's original views aud obsei-vations, but also for the 

 excellent resume that it contains of the writings of most naturalists who have attended 

 to the subject of ancestry in connection with entomology. 



Fifth Annual Keport on the Noxious, Beneficial, and other Insects of 

 THE State of Missouri ; by Charles V. Eiley, State Entomologist. Jefferson City, 

 Mo. : 1873, pp. 1—160. 



We have, on a previous occasion, had the pleasure of noticing Mr. Riley's An- 

 nual Reports, made in his ofScial capacity as State Entomologist for Missouri ; and 

 that under consideration is quite equal to those preceding. Whether regarded from 

 its utilitarian aspect in connection with the habits of the insects treated upon, or 

 from a purely scientific point of view, its contents are full of interest and lasting 

 value. The excellent instructions to young entomologists on the modes of collecting 

 and preserving insects will do much good in a country like the United States, where, 

 in consequence of the vast extent of territory, beginners are almost as isolated as 

 they were in Europe in the last century. The illustrations are copious, and re- 

 mai-kable for their fidelity, most of them being original. Entomologists may justly 

 envy Mr. Riley's skill with the pencil. All of us are acquainted with the wonder- 

 fully accurate drawings by Westwood, which, perhaps as much as anything else, 

 have made the world-wide reputation of that vetei'an worker. It is not idle flattery 

 to say that Mr. Riley's delineations are equal to Westwood's, though, perhaps, lacking 

 the e\'idence of rapid perception of facies (imparting a shade of superficial roughness) 

 which seems to follow the Westwoodian pencil. One chapter is devoted to " Stinging 

 Larvae," a subject that of late has occasioned some controversy in the columns of 

 "Nature." Mr. Riley justly denounces the majority of newspaper paragraphs on this 

 subject as " sensational items," and he adds that he is acquainted with 15 larvae in 

 his State tliat have urticating ])owers, but in every instance the action is mechanical 

 and not from actual venom. It is higli time that tlie sensational and superstitious 

 element should be eliminated from popidar Natural History, and Mr. Riley deserves, 

 and has, our thanks for the part he has taken towards obtaining this end. 



