288 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



A Naturalist in Himalaya. Bv R. W. G. Hingston. Pp. xii -f 300. 

 London : H. F. & G. W'itherley. 



From the fact that ratlier more than two-thirds of this work are 

 devoted to entomological matters one is led to suppose that the 

 author is primarily an entomologist ; but he ranges beyond insects. 

 All living creatures excite his interest, and from all he tries to wrest 

 their secrets. He shows a wonderful store of patience, of careful 

 observation, and draws his conclusions cautiously and logically, 

 knowing full well what tricks Nature can play the unwary. And as 

 a result he has given us a book such as few who care for the study 

 of natural history could read and not get thoroughly interested in. 

 The chapters on Harvesting and Carnivorous /ints and on Spiders 

 will probably prove the best reading, as here the author seems really 

 to have done his very best, and as a result perhaps some of the later 

 chapters seem a trifle tame — not that they are not full of interesting 

 facts, but rather because the author does not seem to have drawn so 

 fully on his notes and observations. 



With most of the conclusions the author arrives at one has to 

 agree. Some are debatable certainly, but that he has tried his 

 utmost to shed light on the psychology of instinct and on the 

 reputed intelligence of some of the really very highly specialised 

 forms of insect life there can be no doubt. 



The work is well illustrated throughout, and succeeds in presenting 

 a very excellent picture of life in a Himalayan valley, to which the 

 occasional references to scenery and the concluding geological sketch 

 contribute in no small degree. N. D. R. 



Beautiful Butterflies of the Tropics. By Arthur Twidle. Pp.x + 

 102, 13 plates. London : The Religious Tract Society, 1920. 



This recent addition to entomological literature is lavishly got up 

 on heavily-glazed paper, and is apparently designed as a guide to 

 those whose aim in collecting exotic Lepidoptera is primarily anmse- 

 ment. That it is impossible to overrate the beauty of many species 

 which, unfortunately for us, only occur in warmer climates than ours, 

 none will deny; that there can be any justification for the capture — 

 by means of the golden net — and exhibition of these in such a 

 manner as to give a " restful colour effect in the arrangement," or, by 

 the use of " a background of green-black velvet," to exliibit them to 

 perfection, few would care to maintain. 



However, the book may, by inspiring in some at first a desire 

 merely to possess some of these beautiful creatures, ultimately lead 

 them to the formation of collections from which, provided only 

 they are fully labelled according to modern needs, it may be possible 

 to learn something. 



The volume contains many interesting notes and facts on collectors 

 and collecting, and touches on points in connection with some 

 species which are often forgotten. The plates are curious ; the 

 colouring of the species figured on them is accurate, but the con- 

 fusion of perspectives gives some of them a most remarkable effect. 



N. D. R. 



