A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



'* To the solid ground 

 Of Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye." — Wordsworth. 



THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1891. 



FOSSIL INSECTS. 

 The Fossil Insects of North America, with Azotes on some 



European Species. By Samuel H. Scudder. 2 Vols. 



4to, Illustrated. (New York : Macmillan and Co., 



1890.) 

 •T^HE name of Mr. S. H. Scudder is familiar to students 

 J- of every branch of zoology through his invaluable 

 " Nomenclator Zoologicus." Though that work alone 

 would be sufficient to earn the gratitude of zoologists, yet 

 the author's claims to especial distinction really rest on 

 the results of his investigations into the structure and dis- 

 tribution of fossil insects, and more particularly those of 

 North America. 



The magnificent work before us, containing consider- 

 ably more than a thousand pages of letterpress, and illus- 

 trated by no less than sixty-two beautifully-executed 

 plates, as well as by numerous figures in the text, con. 

 tains, in a collective form, practically the whole of the 

 author's contributions to the history of North American 

 fossil insects, together with much important information 

 relating to those of Europe. In reality, however, it treats 

 of more than is revealed by its title, since the author in- 

 cludes under the head of insects not only the animals 

 usually thus designated (which he distinguishes as Hexa- 

 pods), but likewise the Myriopods and Arachnids. Since 

 the issue of the work is limited to 100 copies (each sepa- 

 rately numbered), it is probable that it will soon acquire 

 an adventitious value above that which it possesses from 

 its intrinsic merits. Apart from the author's admirable 

 account of fossil insects (in the larger sense of the term) 

 contributed to Prof, von Zittel's " Palaeontologie," the 

 work is the only one giving an exhaustive history of the 

 subject, and is therefore invaluable to all interested in 

 this branch of study. And the excellent manner in which 

 the volumes are turned out demands a meed of praise 

 ahke to author, artists, and printers. Indeed, the only 

 serious fault in the book is that in the first volume no 

 explanation of the plates is given otherwise than in the 

 text, at the close of the articles they severally illustrate. 

 NO. I I 23, VOL. 44] 



The first of the two volumes treats exclusively of the 

 pre-Tertiary insects, and consists of a reprint of upwards 

 of twenty articles and essays published in various serials, 

 dating from December 1866 to September 1890. The 

 second volume, which is a replica of the one recently 

 issued by the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories, 

 formerly under the charge of the late Dr. F. W. Hayden, 

 contains practically the whole of what has been written 

 concerning the Tertiary fossil insects of North America, 

 in which field the author, with one small exception, is the 

 sole worker. 



In the first volume, as we are informed in the introduc- 

 tion, the whole series of essays shows the manner in 

 which the author's views have been gradually modified 

 in certain respects with increasing knowledge ; and we 

 think he has exercised a very wise discretion in allowing 

 the articles to stand as they were written, and thus per- 

 mitting the gradual evolution of his later views to be 

 traced. 



The earliest known true insect is Palceoblattina of the 

 lower part of the Upper Silurian of France, regarded by 

 its describer as a cockroach, although considered by our 

 author as probably one of the Neuropteroid Palaeodictyo- 

 ptera (p. 286) ; but with this exception the insects from 

 the Upper Devonian of the United States claim the 

 earliest position. It is, however, only (as the author tells 

 us elsewhere) when we reach the coal-measures that we 

 find insect-faunas of any considerable extent, such as 

 those of France and lUinois. The Permian, if, with the 

 author, we refer the coal of Saarbriick to the Carboniferous, 

 is, however, poor in insects ; and the Trias, with the ex- 

 ception of that of parts of Colorado, almost barren. The 

 later Secondary beds of America are likewise very barren 

 of insect-remains, so that we have to turn to Europe to 

 gain any definite knowledge of the fauna of that date. 

 In the Tertiaries abundant insect-faunas occur in several 

 river and lake-basins of both hemispheres ; two of the 

 most celebrated being the Florissant basin of Colorado, 

 and that of CEningen on the Rhine. 



The wings of the Palaeozoic insects being those parts 

 of the body which are most commonly preserved in a 

 satisfactory condition, Mr. Scudder, at the commence- 

 ment of his studies, devoted particular attention to this 



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