580 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIV. 



at present. This is perhaps still more true of the discrimination of species, 

 with respect to which a great deal of Colonel Giles' work will only perplex 

 workers in the field and have to be undone in the next ediiiion. His book 

 would really have been more helpful if he had described only those very 

 distinct and conspicuous species which might serve collectors as landmarks, 

 and then grouped under each those forms which seem to be nearest to 

 it, mentioning the points in which they differ. 



However, Colonel Giles had to sail between Scylla and Charybdis, and if he 

 has run aground on the one side, he will doubtless be among the first to see 

 it and make for the other ! The rest of his book is not premature, but very 

 timely and fitted to be very useful. He is an accurate observer and at the 

 same time has that valuable endowment of imagination which so many men 

 of science sadly want. This saves him from the method of tabulating 

 isupposed facts and deducing conclusions by arithmetic which is so much in 

 vogue at the present day. His chapter on the Life, History and Seasonal 

 Prevalence of Mosquitoes is genuine natural history and very readable. The 

 next, on The Conditions Influencing the Prevalence of Mosquitoes and 

 the Prophylaxis of Malaria, is full of valuable information and suggestions,. 

 The chapter on Collecting and Preserving is patently the work of one wha 

 has himself mastered these arts and can teach them. For the rest,. let it suffice 

 to say that the whole book is pleasantly, genially, humorously written, and 

 will encourage many to accept the author's invitation to send him specimens 

 »f mosquitoes, ticks and other biting insects. 



