562 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 930 



tion of many alkaloids may be appreciably 

 influenced by the presence of certain types of 

 salts such as alkali carbonates. 



Wbo knows but that the toxicity of cafEein 

 may be influenced by the mineral matter of the 

 diet and by the quantity of water the animal 

 drinks ? 



William N. Berg 



Washington, D. C. 



Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalcence in 

 the British Museum; Catalogue of the Noc- 

 tuidoe in the Collection of the British Mu- 

 seum. By Sir George F. Hampson, Bart. 

 Volume X., 1910, Volume XI., 1912. Lon- 

 don (England). 



The two volumes comprise 2,140 species, in 

 the subfamilies Erastriinse, Euteliinse, Stic- 

 topterinse, Sarrothripinse and Aeontiinse. 

 They are illustrated by two volumes of col- 

 ored plates, Nos. CXLVIII. to CXIX., in- 

 clusive. There are also many cuts in the text 

 illustrating typical species in each genus, giv- 

 ing both the general appearance and struc- 

 tural characters. Keys to the genera in 

 each subfamily and to the species in each 

 genus are given. There are also genealogical 

 trees for each subfamily, showing the author's 

 ideas of the evolution of the genera. The 

 treatment is the same as in previous volumes of 

 this work, which we have had occasion to notice. 

 The genera are arranged upon adult structural 

 characters, selected by the author. Resort has 

 been had to many minor characters, such as 

 modifications of the tuftings of the vestiture, 

 tubercles on the front of the head, spines on 

 the legs, etc. These characters are in many 

 cases of little phylogenetie importance, so 

 that the classification is to a large degree 

 arbitrary and artificial. This appears dis- 

 tinctly in the arrangement of species within 

 the genus also, where primary groups are 

 made on modifications of antennal structure 

 in one sex and other secondary sexual char- 

 acters, so that really closely allied species are 

 often widely separated. It would be rather 

 difiicult, however, to have avoided this and 

 still keep the keys in a workable condition, 

 especially where the vast majority of the early 



stages and life histories are unknown, as ia 

 the case with these insects. The nomencla- 

 ture of the North American species included 

 in the book is greatly changed from that fa- 

 miliar to us. This appears to be unavoidable, 

 as the classifications of different authors 

 based on restricted faunal regions are here 

 combined. The names here established will 

 probably tend to be permanent, as it will be 

 long before any one attempts to treat the 

 iSToctuidaa of the world on new lines with ma- 

 terial equal to that afforded by the British 

 Museum. 



The British Museum collection, rich as it 

 is, does not make a practise of retaining long 

 series of specimens of common species. Con- 

 sequently the author of these catalogues oc- 

 casionally suffers from lack of sufficient ma- 

 terial. We notice in the genus Iscadia (vol. 

 XI., p. 362) some errors due to this cause. 

 The subfamily Sarrothripinse, to which Iscadia 

 is assigned, is defined by the presence of a bar- 

 shaped retinaculum on the fore wing of the 

 male. In Iscadia aperta Walker and I. duckin- 

 fieldia Schaus this is absent. Sir George notes 

 its absence in I. aperta, but having only one 

 male he supposes it may have been broken off. 

 Furthermore, I. aperta has simple flattened 

 antennse in the male, not bipectinate, as given 

 in the table. I. ducMnfieldia is abundantly 

 distinct from I. aperta, not possibly an aber- 

 ration, as suggested, for it has pectinated 

 antennse in the male and differs in markings, 

 the double black line above the reniform-mark 

 being absent. The separation' of I. ducTcin- 

 fieldia on the brown costal shade is ineffec- 

 tive, as this shade is as often absent as present. 

 These imperfections would have been obviated 

 by larger series of specimens of these rather 

 common species. 



Harrison G. Dyar 



SPECIAL ABTICLES 



the nature op the fertilization membrane 



of the egg of the sea urchin 



(aebacia punctulata) 



Many widely held hypotheses, e. g., on the 



dynamics of cell division, etc., are based on 



