XXXI, '20j ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 2O9 



of some teachers who desire that it be available for the use of their classes. 

 The early publication of this part of the book will not only render it im- 

 mediately available but will also afford an opportunity for the suggestion 

 of desirable changes to be made before it is incorporated in the complete 

 work. Such suggestions are earnestly invited by the writer. In writing 

 this text-book much use has been made of material published in my earlier 

 works, notably in 'An Introduction to Entomology' published in 1888 

 and long out of print, 'A Manual for the Study of Insects,' in the pre- 

 paration of which I was aided by Mrs. Comstock, and in 'The Wings of 

 Insects,' more recently published. The more important of the other 

 sources from which material has been drawn are indicated in the text 

 and in the bibliography at the end of the volume." 



A comparison of the scope of the present work with that of the Manual 

 is at once suggested. In the fourth edition (1901) of the latter, chapters 

 I, Zoological Classification and Zoological Nomenclature; II, Insects and 

 their Near Relatives and as much of III, Class Hexapoda or Insects, as 

 deals with the characteristics of the class and the external and internal 

 anatomy of insects, occupy 76 pages, the following 600, as far as the index, 

 treat successively of the different orders. If from those 76 pages we sub- 

 tract 8, or chapter I, the remaining 68 will in subject matter correspond 

 to the present work. Each topic, consequently is considered here in much 

 greater detail and one is naturally led to another comparison — with the 

 late Professor Packard's Text Book of Entomology, which is very similar 

 in its scope and still more detailed in virtue of its 729 pages and 654 text 

 figures. 



The special title of the present Part I is "The Structure and Meta- 

 morphoses of Insects. " There are four chapters, each with many sub- 

 divisions: I. The Characteristics of Insects and Their Near Relatives 

 (28 pp.); II. The External Anatomy of Insects (66 pp.); III. The Inter- 

 nal Anatomy of Insects (73 pp.); IV. The Metamorphosis of Insects 



(38 pp.)- 



An excellent selection of topics treated and topics omitted has been made, 

 the typography is pleasing and Professor Comstock has with good reason 

 expressed his appreciation of his artists, Miss Str\ke and Miss Edmonson. 

 Some of the familiar figures of the Manual reappear, rather the worse for 

 wear, but most of the illustrations have been newly drawn. — P. P. Calvert 



A Little Gateway to Science. Hexapod Stories. By Edith M. 

 Patch. With illustrations by Robert J. Sim. The Atlantic Monthly 

 Press. Boston, 1920. Pp.. xvii, 179. 43 illustrations. School edition 

 90 cents, library edition Si. 25. — The publishers state that this "little 

 volume contains twelve stories about six-footed insects, told ver>' simply 

 for the very young, by a scientist who thinks that the child should be 

 approached with the same standards of honesty as the most learned 

 society, and that natural history facts are themselves so full of dramatic 

 interest that they need no garnish of fiction. 



