838 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXII. No. 832 



In the great majority of eases, however, 

 neither of these categories of change give 

 heritable results. There are many other 

 points of extreme interest to students of 

 genetics; the chapter on variation and regu- 

 lation in the production of ferments, for ex- 

 ample, will be found specially suggestive, since 

 here we appear to be dealing with one of the 

 elemental phenomena of life, and a study of 

 the genetic relations of these things is 

 hardly possible in higher organisms. The au- 

 thor, however, rightly characterizes his book 

 &s chiefly a program for future work. A well- 

 known authority on bacteriology expressed to 

 the reviewer his belief that results of great 

 importance for the theory of genetics, such as 

 -the appearance of new heritable characteris- 

 tics by adaptive change, can not be accepted 

 with confidence from' the study of bacteria, 

 owing to the extreme diiEculty of isolation, 

 and the impossibility of following and identi- 

 fying individuals and their progeny. Appar- 

 ently the author of the present work is not so 

 ■convinced that this difSculty is insuperable, 

 and it has apparently been overcome in certain 

 cases, as in the work of Barber. But a certain 

 weakness in the positive conclusions to be 

 drawn is here indicated, though this makes 

 the book all the more inspiring to the man 

 with the investigator's spirit, since it suggests 

 to him many lines of work that can be carried 

 •out on the higher protista, where individuals 

 can readily be followed and positively certain 

 results reached. To all such, as well as to the 

 general student of evolutionary problems, this 

 book will be found of much value. 



H. S. Jennings 



The Coleoptera or Beetles of Indiana. By W. 

 S. Blatohley. Bulletin No. 1, Indiana De- 

 partment of Geology and Natural Re- 

 sources. 8vo, pp. 1,386, 590 figs. Indiana- 

 polis, 1910. 



This volume is the first in America to deal 

 with our native coleoptera in a comprehen- 

 sive manner. There has been no single work 

 to which one could resort for the determina- 

 tion of beetles, and this condition has com- 



pelled many to abandon the study of this im- 

 portant group of insects. The present work 

 will, therefore, in a measure, supply a long- 

 felt want; for, while ostensibly it treats only 

 of the species found in Indiana, the majority 

 of them are so widely distributed that it will 

 be a most valuable aid in the determination of 

 coleoptera from the eastern United States and 

 Canada. 



In this bulky volume all the Coleoptera, ex- 

 cepting the Ehynchophora, are treated. The 

 familiar classification of LeConte and Horn 

 is adhered to and accordingly the forms 

 treated are divided into six series. There are 

 identification tables for the families, tribes, 

 genera and species. There are 2,535 species 

 recorded as actually occurring in the state 

 and 777 others which have been found in ad- 

 joining territory are added, and all these are 

 included in the identification tables. Those 

 known from the state are furthermore de- 

 scribed and notes given on their regional and 

 seasonal occurrence, and habits when known. 

 A number of new species, scattered through 

 the larger families, and one new genus are 

 described. The new genus, Blanchardia, is 

 placed in the Omethini, a tribe of problematic 

 position but here referred to the Telephorinse. 

 The name Blanchardia has already been pro- 

 posed for no less than four different genera; 

 Blatchleya is proposed as a substitute for the 

 present one. There are a goodly number of 

 figures, not a few of them original, the re- 

 mainder taken from all available sources. At 

 the end is a glossary of technical terms, an 

 index to the families and genera, and finally 

 an index to the species described as new. At- 

 tention must be called to the fact that this last 

 is not complete. There are omitted the 

 species published under the manuscript names 

 of others and described here for the first time 

 and, therefore, to be credited to Professor 

 Blatchley. Also the newly described varietal 

 forms, for which trinomials are employed, 

 should have been included in this index as 

 some of them may, on further study, be raised 

 to specific rank. It is possible that some of 

 the forms described as new in the Staphili- 



