BOOK REVIEWS 6 1 



it is not a teacher's manual; it is not in any way allied to text-books; but is 

 a book of suggestion, inspiration and encouragement for making country 

 schools better and through them rural life more worth the living. 



The book is the result of seven years of very earnest thought and hard 

 work in an endeavor to secure for the country child his rights so far as an 

 educational opportunity is concerned. In the training of children and the 

 development of character no greater opportunity can be offered than that now 

 presented to the teacher in the country school. The author hopes that this 

 book will prove suggestive to the teacher and school officer who are striving 

 for the spiritualization of country life through the medium of the country 

 school. He believes that a careful reading of its pages will show a practical 

 way of interesting the **farm child through farm topics." 



The volume contains chapters on The Country Child's Rights, The Out- 

 door Art Movement, School- Garden?, Art for the Country Child, The 

 Work of a Farmer Boys' Experiment Club, Educational Excursions, The 

 New Agriculture and the Country School, Consolidation, The Training of 

 Teach.-rs for the Country School. 



Field Tables of Lepidoptera. By Wm. T. M. Forbes. Davis, Ban- 

 nister & Co., Worcester, Mass. Pp. 141, one plate. ^0.75 net. 



In the past few years more requests have come to me for some means of 

 distinguishing and naming the different caterpillars than for any other ten top- 

 ics in nature-study. All sorts of caterpillars are brought into the schools in 

 spring and fall. They are the easily collected, long-period, actively feeding 

 and hence destructive stage in the life of a butterfly or moth; and when the 

 child asks what they do and what they are, it is discouraging to be told all 

 the time: **Feed them and take good care of them and perhaps next year 

 they will turn into butterflies or moths and then we can tell what they are 

 and may be able to find out more **about" what they do." Mr. Forbes has 

 been doing this ever since his early grammar-school years and as a result, at 

 graduation from college, he is enabled to give us the first key to the caterpil- 

 lars of North America cast of the Mississippi. This **key" fills about two- 

 thirds of the book. It will enable the student chiefly by characters visible to 

 eye or hand-lens to determine practically any caterpillar he picks up. In 

 addition there is a valuable **Color Key to Butterflies," and tables giving 

 for 151 butterflies, 49 sphinxes, 1 7 imperial moths and 2 i moths of econo- 

 mic importance the names, scientific and common, description, dates, size, 

 number of broods, frequency, and haunts; and for their caterpillars, descrip- 

 tions, foods and seasons. 



The difficulties of printing a book of this character have made it somewhat 

 expensive, but to any nature student it wall certainly prove many times worth 

 the price. C. F. H. 



