May 19, 1870] 
45 
ing, you would not only find every one of them on the 
maps, but also in some volume of the latest edition 
of “ Thornton’s Gazetteer,” and perhaps in the volume in 
which you least expect to find it. Tomake the book use- 
ful for the general public, therefore, a careful index of all 
the possible spellings, and reference to the correct one, 
‘ought to have been annexed to it. Another English index 
arranged according to subject matter, such as for in- 
stance the one to “ Rich’s Dictionary of Roman and Greek 
Antiquities,” is stilla great desideratum, even after the 
new distribution in four chapters by Mr. Beames. To 
give only two or three instances out of many; How is the 
ordinary reader to know that Bareilly (1L, 143) isthe same 
as Bareli (141), and that the latter is the correct form? 
or that the Jadubans (1., 3) are the same as the Yadbansi’s 
(350), and that Kayat, Kayath, Kayeth, Kaisth and Kaith, 
as they are spelt in different parts of the book, are the 
same, namely, Kdyastha, and that the name is not com- 
posed, as stated, on I., 305, from Aad and sti/tez? And 
how, without an alphabetical table of contents, are you to 
know that contributions to Persian and Slang lexicography 
are hidden away in pages 178 of the second, and 160 of 
the first volume ? 
All this does not, however, detract from the value of the 
work, which we consider, with the author, as “a basis and 
starting point” very well worth imitating for all the civi- 
lians who go out to India. If every secretary of a Sudder 
Board of Revenue in India were presented with a copy of 
this work, and if an injunction were made that either he 
himself or one of his assistants who is well qualified for 
the task should from time to time send in reports of what 
he sees and hears after the pattern of the present book, 
we might, without outlay to the Government, soon see the 
book completed to the letter Z, and the same thing done 
for other presidencies too. But the case occurring, we 
must beg one thing, that the right man be put in the right 
place, and that we are to have no more of that gentle- 
man’s reports who tries to pass off the names of five 
great districts and of five great languages for so many 
“creat families.” (I. 342). We fancy we see him in our 
mind’s eye sitting down to a task utterly ungenial to him, 
and after a strenuous effort to huddle it through, only 
heaping blunder upon blunder. Such discoveries shake 
our faith in the reliability of his other statements in cases 
where we have no means to test them by facts established 
elsewhere, and resting on sufficient authority by themselves. 
OUR BOOK SHEL 
A Catalogue of British Neuroptera, Compiled by Robert 
McLachlan, F.L.S. The Ephemeridz by the Rev. A. 
E. Eaton, B.A. Published by the Entomological Society 
of London. 8vo. (London: Longmans. 1870.) 
ENTOMOLOGISTS will give a cordial welcome to this first 
instalment of the catalogue of British insects, the prepara- 
tion and publication of which has been taken up with 
such commendable zeal by our Entomological Society. 
The subjects coming under the domain of entomology are 
so infinitely numerous, and the literature of the science 
has increased so enormously of late years, that for any 
one man to attempt to grapple with it specifically would 
be almost an act of insanity; and the authorities of 
the Entomological Society have therefore very wisely 
entrusted the preparation of different parts of their 
projected catalogue to those British entomologists who 
NATURE 
have most successfully studied particular groups. Mr. 
McLachlan as a zealous student of the Neuroptera is so 
well known both in this country and on the Continent, that 
no one else could well have been selected for this part of 
the task, and he has associated with himself, in the pre- 
paration of the list of Ephemeridze (the well-known May- 
flies of the angler) a gentleman who, if his published 
writings are less numerous than those of his colleague, 
has certainly shown in them that he possesses in a high 
degree the qualities necessary for the investigation of a 
rather difficult group of insects. 
The order Neuroptera, as understood in this catalogue, 
possesses the same signification that was originally given 
to it by Linnzeus—that is to say, it embraces, besides the 
true Neuroptera with a complete metamorphosis, those 
forms, such as the dragon-flies, May-flies, and some others, 
which, from their imperfect transformation and certain 
structural characters, have of late years frequently been 
placed with the Orthoptera, under the name of “ Pseudo- 
Neuroptera.” Under this subordinal or tribual name they 
ficure in this catalogue, and in the present state of 
our knowledge of the classification of these forms 
of insects, this is perhaps as good a place for them as 
any. We have still much to learn as to the affinities 
of these creatures before any satisfactory arrangement of 
the families and higher groups can be made, and long 
and persevering labours, probably in the genealogical 
direction indicated by Darwinian views, will be necessary 
before we can clearly understand their true relations, 
which, however, are the more interesting, as it is un- 
doubtedly in this neighbourhood that we have to seek 
for the primitive type or types of the whole world of 
insects. Towards such a happy consummation as the 
final settlement of so knotty a question as the true 
classification of the insects comprised under the orders 
Orthoptera and Neuroptera, such conscientious work as 
has been put into this catalogue by its authors must 
greatly contribute. ; 
There is one other point on which we may congratulate 
the Entomological Society, namely, their adoption of 
an order of Entomological pariahs, if we may so speak, 
for the débud of their catalogue. In Entomology, perhaps 
more than in any other department of Natural History, 
fashion rules the day, and the great majority of its votaries 
devote their whole attention either to Lepidoptera or to 
Beetles. The fact that one of the most neglected 
groups of insects has been taken for the commencement 
of this catalogue of British insects, is, we hope, a sign 
that the order of publication will continue to be in the 
inverse ratio of the popularity of the subiects, as we 
feel convinced that there are many who with any tolerable 
guidance would be only too glad to acquire some know- 
ledge of the forms of insect-life which lie outside the 
limits of their present studies. 
Ost Afrika: Erinnerungen und Miscellen aus dem abys- 
sinnischen Feldziige. Von Dr. J. Bechtinger. (Wien. 
1870.) 
Dr. BECHTINGER furnishes an account in a light sketchy 
style of his experience in the Abyssinian campaign as an 
acting assistant surgeon, The contents of this work are 
of a very miscellaneous nature, and are not particularly 
well arranged, comprising scraps of information respecting 
the diseases of the troops, the treatment adopted for the 
Filaria medinensis, the Yemen ulcer, the character and 
habits of the Abyssinians, and the incidents of the journey. 
The descriptions of the scenery are few and short, and 
there are scarcely any observations of scientific value. We 
scarcely know whether the book is intended for the general 
or the professional reader. For the former it contains too 
much medicine and surgery ; for the latter it is almost 
worthless, and we think the author need not have been so 
particular in reserving the right of translation and repro- 
duction. 
