228 NATURAL SCIENCE. Marcu, 
Islands, it strikes us that the introduction of the statement in 
question is a trifle superfluous. Indeed, in a book intended 
primarily for the sportsman, we should have thought even any 
mention of this particular species of Crane might have been 
perfectly well omitted. 
These are, however, but unimportant blemishes in a work which 
we can thoroughly recommend to the attention of the class of readers 
for whom it is specially designed, as being both readable and, so far 
as we Can see, at the same time accurate and up to date. 
Re 
THE HEMIPTERA HETEROPTERA OF THE BriTISH ISLANDS. By Edward Saunders, 
F.L.S. 8vo. Pp. viii. and 350, with a structural plate. London: L. Reeve 
and Co., 1892. Price 14s. (Large paper edition with 31 coloured plates, 
price 48s.) 
Ir is with pleasure that we chronicle the appearance of this work, 
which is uniform with Canon Fowler’s ‘‘ Coleoptera of the British 
Islands,” lately issued by the same publishers. Since the appearance 
of the Ray Society Monograph of the British Hemiptera by Messrs. 
Douglas and Scott in 1865, and Mr. Saunders’ own excellent synopsis 
of the order in 1876, numerous species of bugs have been added to 
our fauna, and inevitable changes and re-changes in nomenclature 
have been made. The classification and synonymy of the British 
Hemiptera are now brought thoroughly up to date, and it is to be 
hoped that the book will incite many naturalists to the study of these 
interesting insects, which, though much neglected in comparison 
with moths and beetles, well repay the student for his work, and in 
some respects offer him more opportunity for discovery than the more 
popular groups. 
Only 12 pages are devoted to an account of the affinities, anatomy, 
and development of the Hemiptera, and the methods of their capture 
and preservation. It is to be regretted that this portion of the work 
has not been carried to a greater length; collectors, even now, too 
often think that to give a specimen a name is the only end of their 
study ; and attention might well be directed to some of the morpho- 
logical problems towards whose solution the commonest bug may 
contribute material. Short though it is, however, this introductory 
portion is clear and reliable, and as far as external structure is con- 
cerned, well illustrated by the plate. 
The book, however, is issued as a systematic work and, as such, 
it is excellent. In his arrangement the author follows Puton; 
entomologists familiar with the sequence of the families in Douglas 
and Scott will notice that the Hydrometridze and Hebride are 
brought forward to the middle of the series between the Aradide and 
Reduviide, while the Capside are relegated to the end. There are 
synoptical tables of the genera and species which must have cost the 
author great trouble, and which, in conjunction with his full and 
accurate descriptions, should safely guide the student to correct deter- 
minations. Those who can afford the large edition will find, in some 
cases, the coloured figures a ‘‘royal road”’ to identification; but 
among the more critical groups, such plates are of doubtful utility. 
The Hemiptera are classified in the main not by colour, but by 
structure; and outline figures of the distinctive parts in nearly 
allied genera and species would be of more value than the coloured 
plates, good as these are. In the table of the genera of the Capside, 
