i8 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



given to the Coleoptera, it will equal if not 

 exceed the latter, numerically. 



Reference at the present to studies in 

 the Diptera, naturally suggests the great 

 loss which Dipterology has sustained in 

 the -recent death — in April last — of the 

 distinguished Prussian Dipterist, Dr. H. 

 Loew, long known as one of the most emi- 

 nent cultivators of this branch of Entomo- 

 logy. During the last twenty years he has 

 been engaged in the study of North Ameri- 

 can Diptera, and at the request of the 

 Smithsonian Institution he has prepared a 

 series of monographs, three volumes of 

 which (Parts i., ii. and iv.) have been pub- 

 lished by that Institution. While his 

 removal from his work at this stage of its 

 progress, cannot but be deeply deplored, 

 there is a consolation to be found in the 

 knowledge that it is not to be wholly ar- 

 rested, but that a worthy collaborator — 

 Baron Osten Sacken — remains to conduct 

 it to a completion, we hope, of the plan 

 proposed. 



The series of Dinnnoclis Special Biblio- 

 graphies, now being published at Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., will prove to be of eminent 

 service to the student who desires to avail 

 himself of the literature of our insects, so 

 widely scattered through the various 

 scientific and popular journals, government 

 surveys, and other publications. Two 

 numbers of the series have been issued — 

 the first containing a complete list to date, 

 it is believed, of the Entomological writ- 

 ings of Dr. John L. LeConte, and the 

 second, those of Dr. George H. Horn. A 

 third, of the writings of Mr. S. H. Scudder, 

 is nearly completed. I regret that it has 

 been thought necessary, in this series, to 

 dispense wholly with the use of capitals in 

 all scientific names, even in the family and 

 ordinal divisions, and I believe that many 

 of you will agree with me in claiming for 

 the royalty of science exemption from con- 

 formity to an innovation based on mere 

 convenience. 



Prof. C. V. Riley and J. Monell have 

 contributed to the Bulletin of the U. S. 

 Geolog.-Geograph. Survey (vol. v., pp. i- 

 32) a paper entitled Notes of the AphididcB 



of the United States, with Descriptions of 

 Species occiiring West of the Missisippi. 

 Part I contains extended biological notes 

 on the Pemphiginje, by Prof. Riley, and Part 

 II, notes on Aphidinse with descriptions of 

 new species, by Mr. Monell. The paper, 

 illustrated by two plates, is a valuable con- 

 tribution to our knowledge of these exceed- 

 ingly interesting insects. 



A special Report from the Department 

 of Agriculture, entitled. The Silkworm: 

 being a brief Manual of Instruction for the 

 Production of Silk, has been prepared by 

 Prof. Riley, and largely distributed by the 

 Department, to meet the demand from 

 various portions of the United States for 

 information upon the important industry 

 of silk culture. The Manual is quite full 

 in the natural history of the Silkworm, in 

 the methods of culture, and directions for 

 reeling cocoons. There seems no reason 

 why this industry, properly fostered, may 

 not be made to add materially to the pro- 

 ductive resources of our country. 



Abstracts of the papers presented by 

 Prof. Riley, at the St. Louis meeting of the 

 American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, have been published in 

 the Proceedings of the Society, and also in 

 a separate pamphlet. Among these are 

 Azotes on the Life-history of the Blister- 

 beetles and on the Structure and Develop- 

 ment of Hornia ; On the Larval Charac- 

 teristics of Corydalus and Chauliodes, and A 

 New Source of Wealth to the United States 

 [Sericulture]. 



A Century of Orthoptcra, commenced by 

 Mr. S. H. Scudder in 1868, and continued 

 at intervals in vols. 12-20 of Proc. Bost. 

 Soc. Nat. Hist., has been- completed dur- 

 ing the present year by the publication of 

 the last three decades, in vol. 20, op. cit. 

 The species described pertain to the Gryl- 

 lides, Locustarise, Acridii and Forficularise. 

 The several parts as originally published 

 have been reprinted in a pamphlet of 48 

 pages. Mr. Scudder has also published 

 (Psyche, vol. ii., p. 154) a short list of Or- 

 thoptera collected in Appalachicola. 



Entomological Notes, No. vi., by Mr. 

 Scudder, issued the past year, is mainly a 



