Bibliographical Notices. 389 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



The Structure and Life-histortf of the Cochroach (Periplaneta oriea- 

 talis), an Introduction to the Study of Insects. By L. C. Miall 

 and Alfred Denny. 8vo. London, Lovell Ileeve and Co. ; 

 Leeds, Jackson. 1886. 



In this volume on the Cockroach, which is No. III. of Prof. Miall's 

 ' Studies in Comparative Anatomy,' we have another book written 

 chiefly for the use of coUege pupils, but which may be of great 

 service to students of Natural History. Starting with a short 

 account of the systematic position and habits of the Cockroach, the 

 authors proceed to describe its structure in considerable detail, 

 working in here and there references to the general structure of 

 Insects brought into correlation with the facts revealed in the direct 

 investigation to which the book is specially devoted, such as a com- 

 parison of the parts of the mouth, of the structure and develop- 

 ment of the wings, of the nervous system and organs of sense, and 

 of the organs of circulation and resjDiration in the Cockroach 

 and other insects. It will bo easily seen that from these points 

 of view much may be learned from a careful examination of the 

 phenomena presented by any one type of insect and a judicious 

 generalization of the facts thus demonstrated by comparison with 

 other forms, and perhaps no better type than the Cockroach could 

 well have been selected to serve as a starting-point for such an 

 investigation. It represents one of the earliest known types of 

 winged insects, and certainly makes the nearest approach of any 

 easily accessible form to what may be regarded as the lowest 

 development of insect-life. 



The student of entomology who follows the authors in their inves- 

 tigation of the anatomy of this domestic pest will certainly find himself 

 in a position to take up with great advantage the study of representa- 

 tives of other groups of insects. At the same time he must not regard 

 the present work as by any means an exhaustive treatise. Pully re- 

 cognizing the value of the work done by the authors, we cannot but 

 feel that in the general treatment of the subject there is a want of 

 something, which something would seem to be a sound appreciation 

 of the zoological aspects of the subject, a deficiency which appears 

 to be foreshadowed by a passage in their preface, where they 

 say, " It is our belief and hope that naturalists will some day recoil 

 from their extravagant love of words and names, and turn to struc- 

 ture, development, life-history, and other aspects of the animal 

 world ; " for while we can quite agree with them in wishing for such 

 a consummation, we read here, perhaps, between the lines a faint 

 trace of the want of appreciation of the merits and purpose of syste- 

 matic Natural History, which seems to us to lie at the root of the 

 deficiencies of this otherwise excellent book. 



In the chapter on the development of the Cockroach the authors 

 have availed themselves of the aid of Mr. Joseph Nusbaum of "War- 



Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 5. Vol. xix. 27 



