196 



SCIENCE 



[X. S. Vol. XXXI. No. 788 



study of the anatomy of the parts, supple- 

 mented by observation of the females and 

 rearing of the species during three consecu- 

 tive seasons. 



A most interesting chapter is included on 

 the economic value of Tachinidse, in which it 

 is shown that these flies, unaided by other 

 parasites, have entirely wiped out consider- 

 able colonies of lepidopterous larvse in Den- 

 mark. 



It is greatly to be hoped that Dr. Melsen, 

 and other students as careful and painstaking 

 as he, will carry on further investigation of 

 the early stages of Muscoidea. 



I have to thank Dr. L. O. Howard, chief of 

 the bureau of entomology, for having an Eng- 

 lish translation of Dr. Nielsen's paper made 

 for me. This translation was done by Mr. 

 August Busck, and it is hoped that it can be 

 published in the near future for the benefit of 

 students not familiar with Danish. 



C. H. T. TOWNSEND 



Gipsy Moth Pabasite Laboeatoet 



The Autoliography of Sir Henry Morton 

 Stanley, G.C.B. Edited by his wife, 

 Dorothy Stanley. Pp. xvii + 538. Six- 

 teen photogravures and a map. Boston and 

 New York, Houghton Mifflin Company. 

 1909. $5 net. 



One of the greatest of modern geographers 

 has called Henry M. Stanley the Bismarck of 

 Africa. This was his due because of the great 

 part he took in the solution of the many diffi- 

 cult problems of that continent. 



The son of James Rowland, born in 1841, at 

 Denbigh, in Wales, his early life was a suc- 

 cession of serious and discouraging struggles. 

 In fact, nearly his whole life was marked by 

 this struggle with his fellow men. Even 

 after success had crowned him, there were al- 

 ways to be found those who not only doubted 

 and opposed him, but did so to the extreme of 

 malice. 



From the time when he was cast off by his 

 own people he may have been the child of for- 

 tune, but it was always hard to realize that 

 such was the case; perhaps this early buffet- 

 ting was the means of developing that self- 



reliance which was his marked characteristic 

 through life. Neglected by his family, his 

 early training in the poor-house certainly can 

 not be considered as the most favorable condi- 

 tion for beginning a career. 



The first chapters of this volume were pre- 

 pared by Stanley himself, the latter portion of 

 the work, however, is the kindly work of his 

 talented wife, who has filled in with marked 

 skill the blanks in his rather fragmentary 

 journals by abstracts from his publications. 



One is constantly struck during the perusal 

 of the first part of the book by the intensely 

 devout attitude of Stanley's mind, and his 

 sincerity and singleness of purpose. His 

 mental activity was curiously in contrast with 

 his surroundings, and he was most fortunate 

 in his early contact with Mr. Stanley, the 

 man to whom he owed most of his serious con- 

 victions as well as his name. Would that 

 there were more men capable and willing to 

 throw such helpful and sturdy influences for 

 good about the needy youth of to-day; 

 whether it would be accepted by them or not 

 is, of course, an open question. Stanley ac- 

 cepted them, however, and prospered under 

 this guidance. 



Thrown again upon his own resources by 

 the death of his best friend, he soon became a 

 wanderer, serving in the southern army, later 

 a prisoner of war, then in the northern navy. 

 At the close of the war his career as corre- 

 spondent began, and he traveled extensively, 

 inspiring confidence in his energy and capa- 

 bility until the New York Herald opened the 

 door to his future work. 



Of this work the estimate of the great 

 Petermann, was " that he had done more than 

 all the scientific travelers in Africa for eighty 

 years previous, more than the Arabians for a 

 thousand years, and that he had no equal 

 among the ' discoverers ' of the earth." This 

 was high praise, but the physical exertions 

 which won these words and brought him home 

 a gray-haired man did not dampen his zeal, 

 and when the time came to finish the work of 

 Livingstone, he was ready for the task. 



Stanley undoubtedly lived ahead of his time, 

 but time has caught up with him, and the real 



