276 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
lectures, the first on Flowers and Insects, the second on 
Plants and Insects, two on the Habits of Ants, and two on 
Archeological subjects. The first four more directly appeal to 
the readers of the ‘Entomologist, but the other two cannot 
fail to interest the general reader, even be he not an archeo- 
logist. There are fifty-four carefully-drawn illustrations, and a 
coloured plate of the various stages of the larva of Cherocampa 
porcellus. Of these illustrations fifty-one are spread over the 
first four lectures. We cannot speak too highly of these 
illustrations. Being chosen by the -author with such good 
judgment, they represent in every instance so exactly what he 
wishes to convey that even the youngest student cannot fail to 
understand their purport. 
In the first lecture Sir John Lubbock shows the relation of 
flowers and insects, and the absolute necessity of the one to the 
other. After shortly referring to the work of former students on. 
this subject, especially Mr. Darwin, he touches upon the 
carnivorous habits of some plants, and then enters upon the real 
subject of the lecture, viz., the fertilisation of plants by insects. 
It is most difficult to quote from a book where every page is alike 
interesting, but we cannot refrain from quoting to show the 
pleasantly simple language used, and language which so thoroughly 
conveys the author’s meaning. Having explained the use of 
the different organs of » flower, in words and by illustrations, 
and their use in perpetuating their species, he says, on page 5 :— 
“Kiveryone knows how important flowers are to insects; everyone 
knows that bees, butterflies, &c., derive the main part of their nourishment 
from the honey or pollen of flowers, but comparatively few are aware, on 
the other hand, how much the flowers themselves are dependent on insects. 
Yet it has, I think, been clearly shown that if insects have been in some 
respects modified and adapted with a view to the acquirement of honey and 
pollen, flowers, on the other hand, owe their scent and honey, their form 
and colour, to the agency of insects. Thus the lines and bands by which 
so many flowers are ornamented have reference to the position of the 
honey ; and it may be observed that these honey-guides are absent in night 
flowers, where they of course would not show, and would therefore be 
useless, as for instance in Lychnis vespertina or Silene nutans. Night 
flowers, moreover, are generally pale; for instance, Lychnis vespertina is 
white, while Lychnis diurna, which flowers by day, is red.” 
Again, at page 9 :— 
“The transference of the pollen from one flower to another is, as 
