1868.] 261 



November the first imago made its appearance. The specimen was duly boxed 

 and placed on one side ; at the end of a month it was alive and uninjured, having 

 remained all that time quite quiet. About a week after the emergence of the first 

 specimen the pupa of another commeneed colouring, occupying three weeks before 

 its entire coloration was eSected ; the perfect insect coming out on the 14th of 

 December. These two insects were then sent off" by post to a friend. I bred the 

 third specimen on the 21st of December ; the fourth has not yet put in an appear- 

 ance, and is possibly dead. The third was very sluggish, seemingly in a state of 

 semi-torpidity ; this specimen was sent through the post alive, a distance of nearly 

 60 miles ; possibly by the time it reached its destination, owing to the almost 

 constant jolting through the post, it may have exhibited something of the liveliness 

 of movement for which the insects in this genus are famous. I cannot help 

 thinking but that it is the natural habit of the creature to appear thus late in the 

 season, the more so as all three of my specimens were bred under circumstances 

 most favourable to their early development, namely, indoors, in a comparatively 

 warm room. — Chas. Healy, 74, Napier Street, Hoxton, N., 23rd January, 1868. 



British Social Wasps; an introduction to their Anatomy and Physiology, Archi- 

 tecture and general Natural History, by Edward Latham Ormeeod, M.D. (Longman 

 and Co., 1868.) 



We have long and anxiously waited for the publication of this book, the author 

 having, in his occasional papers on wasps, intimated his intention of giving, in a 

 collected form, his observations and labours on the subject of those insects ; and 

 the work more than realizes our expectations, bearing, as it does, that stamp 

 which is only impressed on the labours of those who, like the author, pen each 

 topic " as freshly suggested by nature." 



Henceforth, Dr. Orme rod's book will take its place as a standard work, which 

 may be added to by subsequent observers, but must always form an integral part 

 of all future histories of the wasp. 



If the work did not contain any oversights, it would not be the production of 

 an enthusiast,— in other words, of one in love with his subject : thus, at page 26, 

 Dr. Ormerod speaks of the " two species " of solitary wasps that represent the 

 Eumenidw in this country ; whereas, their number is thirteen. The " two species " 

 should have read " two genera," as our author unquestionably knows. 



The chapter on the architecture of wasps is fall of original observations ; 

 and, if carefully studied, will enable anyone to determine the species by which 

 any nest has been constructed ; there can be no necessity for seeing the 

 architect, the impress of the work of the seven species being so graphically por- 

 trayed that mistake is scarcely possible. In this chapter the various theories 

 respecting the construction of the hexagonal form of the cells of bees and wasps 

 is alluded to, and the author refers it to instinctive impulse ; the walls of cells, he 

 observes, are "raised at once in accurate outlines, each building-pellet being 

 applied with great exactness to three sides, two of one cell and another of an 

 adjoining cell." 



