The Zoologist — August, 1871. 2693 



folites ai f el» gelis. 



An Illmtrated Natural History of British Bntterflies. By 

 Edward Newman; with life-size figures drawn by George 

 Willis, and engraved by John Kirchner. 175 pp. letter- 

 press, 203 figures. London: W. Tweedie. Price seven 

 shillings and sixpence. 



An Illustrated Natural History of British Moths ; with life-size 

 figures from Nature of each Species and of the more striking 

 Varieties ; also full Descriptions of both the Perfect Insect and 

 the Caterpillar. 486 pp. letter-press, 1003 figures. London : 

 W. Tweedie. Price twenty shillings. 



The generous notices which these books have received from all 

 our periodicals has my warmest thanks. I hold myself excused 

 from saying anything as to their merits or demerits, but in lieu 

 thereof I take leave to extract one paragraph from the Preface, and 

 three consecutive descriptions from the text of the ' British Moths ' : 

 these descriptions are those of our commonest insects, and exhibit 

 the style in which I have treated the whole. It will be taken for 

 granted that the account of those insects which are less familiar 

 are necessarily less diffuse. 



" The originality and isolation of my undertaking appear iu my determi- 

 nation to write all my descriptions, both of the perfect insect and the 

 catei-pillar, from the objects themselves, and not to compile from any 

 previously published sources. In this I have in great measure, but not 

 wholly, succeeded : a few caterpillars have eluded my most anxious search ; 

 I have therefore adopted, and always with the fullest acknowledgment, 

 previously published descriptions. The desire for originality certainly 

 influenced my great predecessor Haworth, and he succeeded to admiration 

 in carrying it out as far as the perfect insects are concerned, although he 

 clothed his descriptions in a language which has greatly restricted their 

 utiUty. But I think he has not described a single caterpillar : even in the 

 case of the Deaths'-head Hawk moth, which he not only possessed but 

 admired, he has preferred quoting the famihai- description written by 

 Fabricius. Even of such copied descriptions we find very few throughout 

 his great work : in the majority of instances he makes no more allusion to 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. VI. 2 



