764 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIII. 



of them ai-e new ; they are all remarkably good likenesses of the originals 

 and will therefore be of considerable value for identification purposes. The 

 enlarged pictures of the smaller insects appertaining to the families Platy- 

 poAidcB, Scolytidce, Curculionidoe, BostrychidcB and others will be very useful 

 for ease of reference to enable future enquirers to recognize known enemies 

 of forests and to distinguish between them. The photographs of wood 

 sections, trunks of trees, &c., showing the style of damage done by these 

 enemies in India ought also to be of considerable worth. 



It would have enhanced the value of the book if Mr. Stebbing had a 

 systematic key to the diflerent families and sub-families mentioned in it. 

 They are not numerous and it would not have been difficult to do so. It is 

 the same with the genera and species dealt with. The descriptions of the 

 perfect insects, grubs and pupae are very meagre and will, in the majority 

 of cases, be useless for identification purposes but this objection is, to a 

 great part, mitigated by the excellent figures, where these are given. 

 There is a goodly number of insects mentioned of which only a damaged 

 specimen unfit for identification has ever been obtained by the author, there 

 are some even of which only the grub has been seen. These might have 

 been omitted without anything being lost. There is also a good deal of 

 unnecessary repetition. 



On the whole " Indian Forest Insects " is a book which, if it does not go 

 very far towards filling an empty gap in Indian forest literature, we must 

 recognize as a very laudable effort towards supplying a distinct want. And, 

 as such, we should welcome it. It is but a beginning ; in the words of the 

 author, " a pioneer intended to indicate to others the lines upon which further 

 study of the subject should proceed." At the best of times the number of 

 students of these forest zoology matters is limited and, up to date, there have 

 not been many works of reference to help them on their way ; such as exist 

 besides are written in French and German requiring a more or less intimate 

 knowledge of those languages for their perusal. There may of course be Eng- 

 lish translations but, even then, they would not be of much use ; Indian and 

 European conditions being so different that most of what is written in them 

 would have only a limited application out here. So Mr. Stebbing is to be 

 congratulated on having made a beginning; and, considering the difficulties 

 that always present themselves in beginnings, in having done so with con- 

 siderable success, notwithstanding the imperfections from lack of material 

 and information inherent in all new ventures of the sort. Perseverance and 

 courage deserve recognition and we have evidence of both these in the pre- 

 sent work. 



Therefore, as a stimulus to the study of forest insects and their ways, 

 this book is of considerable value. As a work of real, practical utility, it 

 will, we fear, have little scope. And this is due to two causes, both of 

 which are outside the author's influence. One is dependent upon the state 

 of forests management in general out here in India, the other is attributable 

 to the paucity of insects mentioned. The prescriptions for dealing with 

 insect pests could never be applied on any large scale owing to the expense 

 entailed, the difficulty of obtaining sufficient labour at the proper time in 

 most localities, the want of establishment and the ignorance of the people. 

 They could be carried out only in plantations and in isolated forests of 

 limited extent where effective supervision is possible and the means of 

 transport are always at hand. Such conditions exist only in comparatively 

 negligeable areas. The other cause can only be removed by years of 

 entomological study. Although numbers of insects are known to the 

 systematic scientists there are still very many that are not ; and, except for 

 the life histories and habits described for certain beetles in Mr. Stebbing's 

 present book, little has been published, because little is known of their ways^ 



