Juny 19, 1918] 
Although the “Field Book of Insects” 
covers a large field, it is convenient in size, 
7 x41x1 inches, weighs about sixteen ounces, 
and while printed from small type, the print- 
ing is well spaced, clear and easily read. 
There are 101 plates, of which twenty-four are 
colored. The plates contain 800 figures, which 
are well drawn and will be of great aid in the 
identification of specimens. While the major- 
ity of the figures are of adult insects, there 
are many of nymphs, larve and pupa, illus- 
trating the common and peculiar types. 
In the choice of the species to be described 
and figured, the author has evidently made use 
of his museum experience. The selection is 
excellent and includes all the common and 
anomalous species most likely to be met with 
by the amateur and general collector in the 
region covered, the northeastern United States. 
The discussions are interesting and concise. 
The introduction includes a general discussion 
on the number of kinds of insects, the scien- 
tific names of animals, growth and metamor- 
phosis, anatomy, collecting and breeding of 
insects, identification and the control of inju- 
rious species. 
There follows a brief account of the near 
relatives of insects, but confined in great part 
to spiders and their webs. The insects are 
divided into about twenty orders, of which the 
greater part of the text and a considerable 
number of the plates are devoted to the 
Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera 
and Hymenoptera. While it is evidently in- 
tended that the figures should be used mainly 
for the identification of specimens, in the 
orders named there are analytical tables for 
the identification of families and genera and, 
in certain cases, species. The discussion of 
the Hymenoptera, the last order treated, is 
followed by a consideration of the abnormal 
growths or galls produced upon plants by in- 
sects. About the only way in which such 
structures can be identified is by the use of 
figures and the last seven plates contain fig- 
ures of the common galls made by mites, 
Homoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hy- 
menoptera. In interesting young people, 
those who tramp and camp, the student of 
SCIENCE 69 
nature, and the farmer who observes the things 
about him, this book will prove of great value. 
Aex. D. MacGinurvray 
NOTES ON METEOROLOGY AND 
CLIMATOLOGY 
RAINFALL OF THE UNITED STATES 
Mucu progress has been made in accurate 
mapping of the rainfall of the United States, 
and in careful discussion of our now extensive 
records. In1917,the Weather Bureau finished 
the construction of many maps designed to 
bring out the rainfall features of most im- 
portance in agriculture. Possibly by the end 
of this summer these will be published as a 
section of the Atlas of American Agriculture. 
In fact, the map of average annual precipita- 
tion has already appeared. 
The most important of the unpublished 
maps are those of the monthly and seasonal 
rainfalls, and of the frequencies of rains of 
different intensities. Since the records of sey- 
eral thousand stations have been used, and 
since the isohyetal lines have been drawn with 
a careful consideration of topography, these 
maps show in much greater detail and accuracy 
than ever before the distribution of the rain- 
fall of the United States. 
The distribution has been ably discussed by 
Professor R. DeC. Ward.? The rainfall of 
the United States east of the Rockies seems to 
be from moisture originally coming from the 
Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean; and, 
judging from the distribution of rainfall, the 
Gulf of Mexico is of primary importance. 
From the heavily watered north Gulf coast, 
where the rainfall is 60 inches a year, the 
amount decreases inland, slowly to the north, 
but rapidly to the northwest and west. East 
of the Appalachians the moisture from the 
Atlantic keeps the country well supplied—the 
rainfall being generally 45-50 inches in the 
south, and 40-45 in the north. The effect of 
the Appalachians is to increase the rainfall on 
the borders but to decrease the rain in the 
interior of the mountain region. Thus there 
1 See the reproduction in the Mo. Weather Rev., 
July, 1917, Vol. 45, Pl. 76. 
2 Ibid., pp. 338-345. 
