ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY., ETC, 75 



Structure and Life-history of the Cockroach.* — Prof. L. C. Miall and 

 Mr. A. Denny have published a work on the structure and life-history of 

 the cockroach (Periplaneta orientalis), which they hope, and we expect, will 

 serve as an introduction to the study of insects. They have the aid of 

 Prof. F. Plateau in dealing with the respiratory movements of insects, of 

 Herr J. Nusbaum when treating of the embryonic development, while 

 Mr. S. H. Scudder writes on the cockroach of the past. The work is 

 illustrated by 125 w^oodcuts, many of which are new, and most of which 

 are good, and references are given to the monographic writers and to 

 those who have specially treated of various organs. In an appendix there 

 is a list of the pai-asites of the cockroach ; the authors do not seem to be 

 aware of a popular article, conceived in a scientific spirit, written several 

 years ago by Prof. Eay Lankester on this subject. 



Relationship and Relative Ag-e of Noctuse and Geometrse.f — Herr 

 L. Knatz has studied ex ovo the larvae of various Noctuae and Geometry ; 

 as to the former, he finds that the larv^ have not always at first their full 

 number (sixteen) of legs, and that at such stages they exhibit the mode of 

 movement and other characteristic peculiarities of the Geometrse. He 

 concludes that if ontogeny is an epitome of the phylogeny, it is justifiable 

 to suppose that the Noctuae are of later development than and derived from 

 geometrid forms. Further proofs of this position are to be found in the 

 more complete character of the Nociua. The author suggests that the 

 examination of the young stages of insect-larvae, especially of the Lej)i- 

 doptera, may clear up some points in the phylogeny of the larger divisions, 

 and aid the work of embryology. It may, however, be pointed out that the 

 author makes no reference to a view widely held, and thus expressed by 

 Balfour: I — "The characters of the majority of existing larval forms of 

 insects have owed their origin to secondary adaptations." 



Forms of Caterpillars. § — In studying the young forms of caterpillars, 

 Herr L. Knatz found that many Noctuae caterpillars are exactly like 

 Geometrse forms, and that it is only after the second skin-casting that 

 they acquire the originally absent seventh and eighth pairs of legs. Simi- 

 larly, the subsequently naked Noctuae forms are more or less hairy in their 

 younger stages. The same is true among Geometrae in Lopliopteryx camelina 

 and Saturnia pyri. The two families are regarded as most closely allied, 

 and the Geometra form of caterpillar (" Spannerraupe ") is older than the 

 Noctua type (" Eulenraupe "). 



Primitive Insects. |1 — Prof. B. Grassi, in his studies on the primitive 

 Tracheata, gives a detailed account of Japyx. The purely systematic 

 relations, the geographical distribution, and the anatomical facts are 

 discussed in order. Some embryological facts are also noted. The seg- 

 mentation of the Japyx ovum is like that of the typical insects. As in 

 HydropJiilus, Gryllotalpa, and the CoUemboli, there is a dorsal organ, which 

 Grassi is inclined, with Korottneff, to regard as a sort of stopper closing 

 the " umbilical passage." The author also maintains the formation of an 

 amnion. 



Japyx and Campodea are closely related, and the characters which con- 

 nect them with Chilopoda on the one hand and Collemboli on the other 



* ' The Cockroach. Au latroJuction to the Study of Insects.' Svo, London and 

 Leeds, 1886, 224 pp. (125 figs.). 



t Zool. Anzeig., ix. (1886) pp. 610-2. % Oomp. Embryology, i. p. 352. 



§ Festsch. Ver. f. Natmk. Kassel. Cf. Natur'orsclier, xix. (1886; pp. 408-9. 



II Atti Accad. Gioenia Sci. Nat. Catania, xix. (1885) 5 pis. Cf. Eev. Ital. Sci. Nat., 

 ii. (1886) pp. 40-2. 



