20 Rev7e7vs and Book Notices. 



posed to be a] most confined to Delamere Forest, in Cheshire. 

 Mr. Fletcher, of Wakefield, reports Acronycta leporina and 

 Cymatophora fluctiiosa from his district. From Hull, Mr. Porter 

 reports larv?e of Cirrcedia xerampelina and Agrotis obscura 

 common at Spurn. The Rev. T. B. Fddrup reports Sphinx 

 convolvuli from Horbury. 



Much attention has been paid to the breeding of Abraxas 

 grossulariata in a number of districts, and fine series of varieties 

 resulted. The varieties varleyata, hazeleighensis, and nigro- 

 sparsata are a few of the named forms that have been reared, 

 along with many other equally curious and striking varieties. 



Traite de Geologic : I. Les Pheiwmenes gih>hgiqiies, par Emile Haug, 



professeiir a la faculte des Sciences de I'Universite de Paris. L'li vol 

 in-8o raisin (26c x i6c ), de 540 pag-es, avec 195 figures et cartes et 71 

 plaucties de reproductions photograpiiiques (Librairie Armand Colin, rue de 

 Mezi^res, 5, Paris), broche. 12 fr. 5o[io-6d.]. 



For some time there has been an opening for a Frencli treatise deahng 

 with geological phenomena, which shall be intermediate between the 

 elementary text-book and the more technical memoirs which are scattered 

 in the proceedings of scientific societies, and are consequently not generally 

 accessible. In the present work M. Emile Haug has supplied the want, 

 and places upon permanent record an admirable series of essays suitable 

 for the educated public. 



M. Haug first describes the continental and ocean centres, which are 

 the seats of phenomena of sedimentation. He assists us in the working 

 out of the material which constitutes the crust of the earth, ending, by the 

 continuous erosion (de-gradation) of terrestrial features (relief), in the 

 formation of a level surface (peneplaine), the last phase of the cycle of 

 ' geological phenomena.' 



Leaving these quite elementary ideas, the author places the reader 

 in the presence of the most important problems of modern geology. The 

 ' Traite de Geologic ' offers on that account equal interest for the amateur 

 and the professional geologist. Both will appreciate the copious bib- 

 liographical notes placed at the end of each chapter, which will guide the 

 reader in making further researches. 



The work is illustrated by 195 figures and plans, and 71 excellent plates 

 of photographic reproductions ; but the paper wrappers to the volume 

 hardly survive the post. We cannot understand why our friends across 

 the channel should so frequently place such valuable work in such flimsy 

 covers. 



British Mosses (2nd edition), by Sir Edward Fry (Witherby & Co., 

 price 1/6), is an interesting little book in its way, and will be read with 

 profit by beginners in the study of this charming group of plants. It 

 draws attention to the position held by mosses in the classification of 

 Cryptogams, and traces in detail the life-history of an ordinary moss, 

 through its half-dozen stages — when the complete cycle is run. Instances 

 are quoted of many that take a short cut across the circle, and dispense 

 with one or more stages in their reproduction. A table is given of nine 

 different methods of reproduction adopted by these plants. Attention 

 is drawn to the remarkable variety of form and structure in the leaves 

 and capsules. The booklet concludes with an outline of the important 

 part these little plants at present play, and have played in the past, on 

 tl e earth's surface. 'C- C 



Naturalist, 



