30 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 
We gather, from the introduction, that the book is the outcome of 
investigations continued for some twenty years, and the author confesses 
“much is mere speculation ; much with fuller knowledge may be found 
to be wrong.” To attempt to review the work in but a few words would 
be to do it an injustice ; it should be read by all students of ornithology 
from cover to cover, and not in portions but as a continuous whole. 
Only in this way can Mr Eliot Howard’s postulates and theories be 
rightly appreciated. The book may be confidently recommended as 
not only novel in its conception but also as of engrossing interest. It 
is excellently printed and well indexed, and the eleven illustrations, by 
Messrs G. E. Lodge and H. Groénvold, are so realistic as to elicit 
particular mention. ~ lal isp (Ee 
Krys To THE OrpDeERS OF INsEcTs. By Frank Balfour-Browne, 
M.A., F.R.S.E. Cambridge: The University Press, 1920. 
Price 7s; od) net: 
The student of entomology will find this work of the greatest 
assistance, especially in his preliminary reading and observation. The 
author has obviously bestowed a great deal of care upon the compilation 
and construction of these keys, and since they are based in every 
instance upon the work of recognised authorities their value and 
accuracy may be taken for granted. The system of classifying the 
Class Insecta into some twenty different Orders has been followed in 
the present work, and the first key given (on pages I to 6) will not only 
enable the student to refer any particular specimen to its proper Order 
without much difficulty, but willin the very act of using it give him, if 
not a firm grasp, at least a clear mental view of the salient features of 
each of these large groups. 
The rest of the work is occupied by similar analytical keys of the six 
more important Orders, by which an insect may be assigned to its 
particular family. As there is in many cases a special nomenclature 
applicable only to a particular Order, the student is furnished with a 
series of special glossaries and diagrams which will greatly aid him in 
the practical use of the keys. It isa matter for regret that the author 
did not see his way to make the work complete, but perhaps the addition 
of tables for a// the Orders would have made the book too large and 
expensive for the ordinary purposes of the student. The fifty-eight 
pages are well-printed, remarkably free from typographical errors, and 
interleaved throughout, so that additional notes may be readily inserted. 
P: HG: 
