82 Notices of Books. [January, 
from time to time appeared are cited chapter and verse, giving 
the reader the advantage of making fuller reference for himself 
should it be required. The arrangement is good: given disease 
or date, the rest is soon found. But besides the history of each 
plague there are many valuable conclusions drawn by Mr. Fleming 
as to the probable cause or causes of the pest. Apart from its 
special value, the book is very interesting as a general history. 
Description of an Electric Telegraph. By Sir Francis Ronatps, 
F.R.S. Second Edition, London: Williams and Norgate. 
1871. 
Tuts is a reprint of a work published in 1823 when telegraphy 
was in its extreme infancy. Sir Francis Ronalds describes a 
telegraph now considered as ranking amongst the historical 
curiosities of the employment of electricity as a means of com- 
munication between distant places, being, in fact, an application 
of a static charge to cause the diversion of a pith-ball electrometer. 
The interest of the little work is consequently purely historical ; 
but we cannot wonder that the author should seek to claim 
attention to his share in the introduction of that connecting 
link between nations—our present system of telegraphy. The 
method of testing for faults in the insulation of his line is, in 
its completeness, quite worthy of the present system. 
Insects at Home.—Being a Popular Account of British Insects, 
their Structure, Habits, and Transformations. By the Rev. 
J. G. Woop, M.A., F.L.S., &c.; Author of ‘Homes Without 
Hands,” ‘*Common Objects of the Sea-Shore and Country,” 
&c. 700 Illustrations. London: Longmans and Co. 1872. 
Mr. Woop is so well known by his former works that anything 
new from his pen will be certain to find favour; but even were 
he unknown as an author the work now presented to the public 
would be sufficiently meritorious to establish his fame. ‘Inse¢ts 
at Home” is a most comprehensive account of the infancy, 
maturity, and we may say social life of English insects. More- 
over, it is an introduction to the study of entomology; and here 
the beginner will derive great advantage from the clear definition 
of the many hard names peculiar to this branch of natural 
science. The task of identifying an insect is by no means an 
easy one when, as in many entomological works, a very fair 
knowledge of Greek is required to render the terminology in- 
telligible; but by clear definition and a system of reference by 
numbers, the author has effectually surmounted this difficulty. 
The plan of illustration is novel. As the colouring of the woodcuts 
