NEW BOOKS, WITH SHORT NOTICES. 85 



both from tlie marked clearness of the writer as an instructor, and 

 from the excellent series of illustrations which it presents. But it 

 would indeed be very poor criticism which confined its observations 

 by such limits as these. There is a philosophical tone about the 

 volume which is its highest quality, and it is this, we think, which will 

 be most highly valued by the thinking reader, more especially if his 

 tendencies be Darwinian. In fact, the author has tried the very 

 difficult task of attemj)ting a system of classification which will show 

 the force of the theory of evolution as it apj)lies to the class Insecta. 

 He has endeavoiu-ed to show how the class was originally developed, 

 and then to trace out its several modifications, and its relation to the 

 neighbouring classes. And this he does, it appears to the writer, in a 

 very successful fashion. Indeed, Sir J. Lubbock's appears to be un- 

 questionably the most successful attempt that has been made in the 

 application of Darwinism to the group he has taken in hand. He 

 attempts to do for this group what Fritz Miiller has so sj^lendidly 

 performed for the class Crustacea. But besides this general feature of 

 the work, it is interesting from the number of remarkable passages it 

 contains referring to the more peculiar habits of certain of the group. 

 We shall quote one or two remarkable cases, and not the least 

 important is that relating to the solitary hymenoptera. " The solitary 

 bee or wasp," he says, " forms a cell generally in the ground, places 

 in it a sufficient amount of food, lays an egg, and closes the cell. In 

 the case of bees the food consists of honey ; in that of wasps, the 

 larva requires animal food, and the mother therefore places a certain 

 number of insects in the cell, each species having its own especial 

 prey, some selecting small caterpillars, some beetles, some spiders. 

 Cerceris Cupresticida, as its name denotes, attacks beetles belonging to 

 the genus Buprestis. Now, if the Cerceris were to kill the beetle 

 before placing it in the cell, it would decay, and the young larva 

 when hatched would find only a mass of corruption. On the other 

 hand, if the beetle were buried miinjured, in its struggle to escaj^e it 

 would be almost certain to destroy the egg. The wasp has, however, 

 the instinct of stinging its prey in the centre of the nervous system, 

 thus depriving it of motion, and let us hope of sutfering, but not of 

 life ; consequently when the yoimg larva leaves the egg it finds a 

 sufficient store of wholesome food." A not less remarkable, though 

 more questionable fact, is that relating to the habits of Clavigers and 

 Ants ; but this we may pass over. And indeed, many other equally 

 remarkable instances might be quoted if our space was illimitable. 

 We shall therefore pass on to what we consider the important j^art of 

 the little book before us. It is that relating to the origin of the 

 Insecta ; and this is of course a most difficult jiroblem for the naturalist. 

 As the author shows, Palaeontology supjilies very little evidence 

 indeed. As far as it goes, however, it supports the idea that " the 

 Orthoptera and Neiu-optera are the most ancient orders," though it 

 affords small testimony as to which is the elder of these two groups ; 

 and beyond this it is valueless as a means of research. It is, then, 

 upon embryology and development that the author rests his several 

 conclusions ; for he points out that very many cases occur where 

 insects are related in early life which have no connection whatever in 



