143 



REVIEWS. 



BritisJi Pyralldes, including the Pterophoridce. By John Henry 

 Leech, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c. London: R. H. Porter, 

 Tenterden Street. 1886. Cr. 8vo, 18 coloured plates. 



In his introduction Mr. Leech says, " The object of this 

 treatise is to set before the student an illustrated list of the 

 British examples of the group"; and we may add that such a 

 work was greatly needed. It is something more than a mere list, 

 for, although there is little pretension of original work on the 

 part of the compiler, he has furnished us with pretty well all the 

 published information up to the date of issue, collected from the 

 current literature of his subject, especially with regard to 

 descriptions of larvae and localities of occurrence. The larval 

 portion will be most useful to those studying the natural history 

 of these moths, for it has been hitherto troublesome to hunt up 

 any particular account from magazines extending over a long 

 series of years. 



Mr. Leech avoids all descriptions of the imagines, leaving the 

 differential details to be gathered from the plates. This is 

 rather a pity, for in nearly allied and variable species, as, for 

 instance, in the genus Scoparia, a few words pointing out special 

 characters and extremes of variation would have been most 

 useful. If all species had been exactly like the individual speci- 

 men figured, identification by this illustrated list would have been 

 easy enough ; it is, however, otherwise, and hence the advantage 

 of what we may hope will be added in a future edition. We do 

 not quite understand the reason for the system adopted in choice 

 of synonyms : would it not have been well to have used all 

 if any ? 



In a prefatory note Mr. Leech advocates the flat system of 

 setting in preference to the style usually adopted in this country. 

 In these remarks we quite concur. 



The plates are generally good, but there seems to be a slight 

 want of sharpness in colouring, giving the idea in some instances 

 of the figures having been taken from faded specimens. They 

 are, however, sufficiently good for all ordinary identification. 



The work cannot be described as a literary efi'ort on the part 

 of Mr. Leech, though it will be none the less useful in con- 



