NEW WORKS OX ENTOMOLOGY. 179 



DIE TINEEN UND PTEROPHOREN DER 

 SCHVVEIZ. Von Professor Heinrich Fret. &co. 

 pp. 430. Price Is. 6d. Zurich: Meyer and Zeller. 



A systematic descriptive work on the Tinea and Pterophori of 

 Switzerland, by one so fully qualified for the task as Professor 

 Frey had already shown himself to be, is no unimportant addition 

 to the already rich stores of German Entomological literature. 

 Every fresh work which emanates from the brains of that deep- 

 thinking and hard-studying race renders a knowledge of German 

 literature more and more necessary to the earnest seeker after 

 scientific truth. We cannot translate all the German works as 

 fast as they appear, nor is it desirable that we should do so, since 

 there is always a risk that in translation some of the force and pre- 

 cise meaning; of the original writer will be lost. German is much 

 more generally taught in schools than used formerly to be the case, 

 but is it yet sufficiently so ? Languages are easier learnt when we 

 are young, than at a more advanced period of life, and the boy of 

 fourteen may miss the golden opportunity, which the man of 

 twenty-four Will regret. 



Frey divides the Tinea into fifteen families: — I. Exapatidce ; 

 II. Tineidce ; III. 3Iicropte?yr/ida? ; IV. Hyponomrut'uke ; 

 V. PlutelMce; VI. GeUctedce ; VII. (Ecophondce ; VIII. Gly- 

 phipterygidce ; IX. Argyresthidce ; X. Coleophoridoe ; XI. Graci- 

 laridce ; XII. ElacJiistidce ; XIII. Lyonetidce ; XIV. Lithocolle- 

 tidce; XV. Nepticulidte. lie has thus two families more than are 

 admitted by Stainton in his volume of the Insecta Britannica, for 

 Frey separates the genus Micropteryx from the Ti/ieidce, making of 

 it a distinct family, Micropterygidce (a position which probably few 

 ■will feel disposed to deny to these singular insects): and he also 

 separates the genera Dasycera, (Ecophora, Butalis, Pancalia and 

 Endrosis from the Gelevltirice, forming thereby his family CEcopho- 

 ridce, a step undoubtedly in the right direction, if only it can be 

 maintained. Many of our readers, who were dissatisfied with the 

 removal of the genus Semioscopis from its time-honoured place, 

 will he pleased to hear that Frey returns it to the Exapatidce, 

 placing it immediately after Chimabacche. 



One very gratifying feature we notice in Frey's work is. that 

 from the increased number of observers throughout Europe of this 

 group of insects during the last ten years, some progress bas been 

 made in establishing the geographical range of species. This must 

 ever he one of the most interesting branches of the studies of an 



Entomologist; hut lie!'. re it can he attempted to he thoroughly fol- 

 lowed up, not only must the number of observers in different 



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