RECENT LITERATURE, 327 



students. Yet, though fully appreciating the illustrations of the late 

 Charles Barrett's great work on British Lepicloptera, we are bound 

 to confess that, with the facilities now afforded M. Culot, a very 

 much higher degree of excellence would have been attained, while 

 Mr. Tutt, of course, has barely touched the subject of this mono- 

 graph, and his later volumes have not the advantage of coloured illus- 

 trations. We can, therefore, the more confidently recommend the 

 method adopted by M. Culot, which relies less upon highly technical 

 and meticulous descriptions than colour presentations to record 

 individual characters, and cordially advise those of our readers who 

 are interested in the subject to apply for full and further particulars 

 from the author and illustrator, Villa-les-Iris, Grand Pre, Geneva. 



— H. E.-B. 



Butterflies and Moths of the United Kingdom. By W. Egmont 

 KiRBY, M.D. Pp. i.-lii. and 2-468. With seventy coloured 

 plates. Medium 8vo. London : George Eoutledge & Sons, Ltd. 



In these days of general entomological progress, one expects that 

 the latest book on the lepidopterous fauna of a country should, as its 

 raison d'etre, exhibit either distinctive features in illustration, or some 

 novel method of presenting the subject. The introduction of some 

 coloured figures of larvae among those of the imagines on the plates, 

 as has been done in the inexpensive volume before us, is certainly a 

 welcome innovation that will appeal to the nature lover for whom, 

 chiefly, the book has been produced. 



A specimen, and occasionally a variety, of very nearly every 

 species of moth and butterfly (Macro-Lepidoptera old style) occurring 

 in the United Kingdom may be found on the coloured plates. Some of 

 the "Micros " also are depicted (Plates Ixv.-lxx.). It would not perhaps 

 have lessened the practical utility of the book if some at least of the 

 latter had not been given. For example, the figures on plate Ixvi. are 

 all wrongly named in the text, also in the list of plates and in the 

 index. Twenty-seven species are represented on this plate, and the 

 numbering runs from 1 to 18, then 32 to 40. In the list the numbers 

 for this plate lun from 1 to 27, and according to it, and to the text, 

 fig. 1 shows Botys lupulina, but this species is really fig. 32 on the 

 plate. Figs. 36 and 37 seem to be B. ruralis and B. lanceaUs 

 respectively, but text and list indicate figs. 5 and 6 as these species. 



Although very many of the plates are distinctly good, others can 

 only be referred to as medium. On the whole, however, the number 

 of figures that are really unsatisfactory is not excessive. 



Turning to the text, we are bound to say that we fail to find very little 

 that will be new to the student of British Lepidoptera. The imago 

 and the larva of each species are more or less briefly described, but 

 we think that variation of the imago, especially of polymorphic 

 species, should have been treated more fully. Distribution, too, is of 

 greater importance, even to the tyro, than our author seems to 

 consider it. 



We wonder why Salmacis and Artaxerxes are set down as species 

 distinct from Polyommatus alexis, Scop. [Lyccena astrarche), whilst 

 Gidaria immanata is figured as a form of G. trimcata and not even 

 mentioned in the text. 



