124 Psyche [June 
Needham, James G. General Biology; a book of outlines for the general 
student. pp. xiv; 542, figs. 287. Ithaca, N. Y. 1910, The Comstock Pub. 
Co. Price $2.00. 
Entomologists will be much gratified to see the wide extent to which 
Professor Needham has drawn upon insects to furnish the material for 
illustrating many of the biological topics treated in this book. It is 
intended to serve as a guide for the One-year course in biology as given 
in most colleges where the work is divided between zodlogy and botany, 
but the two are not kept separate in the present outline which aims to 
give a general idea of the broader principles of the evolution, adaption 
and interrelationship of organisms, rather than the specific morphological 
studies usually presented to students of this class. Such a presentation 
should prove attractive to the young college student, particularly if com- 
bined with a really enthusiastic teacher. 
C. T. Brues. 
The Fungus Gnats of North America. By O. A. Johannsen. Bull. 172, 
Maine Agric. Exp. Sta., pp. 209-276, pls. 3 (March 1910). 
This very valuable contribution to American dipterology deals with 
about half of the North American Mycetophilide, a family which has 
been in great need of revision for many years. Eight subfamilies are 
recognized of which five, the Bolitophiline, Mycetobiine, Diadocidine, 
Ceroplatine and Macrocerine are considered in the present paper. 
Seventy-one species are recognized and described, belonging to a number 
of genera, the largest, Platyura, having 26 species referred to it. 
C. T. Brues. 
