292 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1212 



was particularly striking. From tlie extreme 

 northwest a broad band of deep red, like a 

 cloud reflection of a conflagration, spread up- 

 ward to a point in tbe constellation Cancer, 

 just south of the zenith, where it terminated 

 within a horseshoe-shaped mass of white 

 having the convex side toward the north. A 

 similar but less brilliant red cloud extended 

 from this point toward the east. Culminating 

 at the same point within the horseshoe were 

 greenish white streamers extending in all 

 directions to the horizon. At this time also 

 there was another red patch covering some- 

 what more than the area of the Great Bear 

 in the northeast. Athwart this ran the zenith 

 streamers from the north horizon. 



At 10:45 the overhead display was fading 

 and a broad red patch in the northwest covered 

 Cassiopeia. This rapidly divided into two 

 parts, drifting west and south. 



By 10:30 the effect had practically disap- 

 peared except for a greenish glow toward the 

 north. 



Although the deep red color was massed in 

 the streamers and patches mentioned, the 

 entire sky was tinged with red, shading grad- 

 ually outward from these dense masses. 



C. M. Smith 



PuEDUE University, 

 Lafayette, Indiana 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Catalogue of the Hemiptera of America North 

 of Mexico, excepting the Alphididce, Coccidoe 

 and Aleurodidce. By Edward P. Van 

 DuzEE. University of California Press 

 191Y. Pp. i-xiv, 1-902. 

 The completion of this great paper marks 

 another distinct advance in the study of ISTorth 

 American insects. The large order Hemiptera 

 has had comparatively few devotees, though 

 select, as the names of Fieber, Stal, Eeuter, 

 Bergrot, Horvath, and Uhler will indicate, 

 and until recently its study has been some- 

 what backward as regards quantity if not 

 quality. During the last few years, however, 

 a great many of the younger students of 

 entomology have elected to become hemipter- 

 ists, and in consequence there has been a sudden 



increase in scattered contributions with a gen- 

 eral rise of interest in the order. The present 

 is, therefore, a peculiarly fortunate time for the 

 appearance of a full bibliographical catalogue 

 which brings together in orderly and properly 

 conservative form a report of what has so far 

 been accomplished and furnishes an adequate 

 basis for further advance. Hemipterists, if 

 few in number, have been unusually pro- 

 lific, as is attested by the more than 900 large 

 pages of the volume under consideration. 



Careful examination of the work reveals a 

 well-planned and faithfully executed enter- 

 prise. The author exhibits a masterly grasp 

 of his subject, as a whole and in detail, and 

 his production merits the warmest praise in 

 every respect. In the introduction Mr. Van 

 Duzee gives a clear and convincing statement 

 of the nomenclatorial principles which have 

 guided him. These are his well known and by 

 no means ultra-conservative views, grounded 

 firmly on the International Code, eminently 

 logical in theory and successful in practise. 

 For the first time the principle of priority is 

 applied and fully worked out in connection 

 with the names of all taxonomic groups, with 

 such happy results that to me the general 

 adoption of this plan seems sure.- Original 

 spellings are retained, but the author expressly 

 disclaims any intention of restraining those 

 who refuse to assist in perpetuating philo- 

 logical and grammatical errors. In addition 

 to these general matters, a number of special 

 points deserve particular attention. 



In recording the distribution of the species, 

 the author has done well to abandon the 

 method of his recent check list, simply giving 

 under each species a list of the states in which 

 it is known to occur. As he remarks in the 

 introduction, " our knowledge of the distrib- 

 ution of oux species is still too fragmentary 

 to allow the satisfactory naming of a 

 habitat,' " — a procedure too frequent in hemip- 

 terological writings. In this way the stu- 

 dent is forcibly reminded of the extensive 

 lacunse existing in this branch of the study, 

 and he can go about the business of filling 

 them with some confidence. The scarcity of 



