January 23, 1903.] 



SCIENCE. 



155 



thing. Among many recent ones may be 

 mentioned one by Henri Polaillon.* There 

 are chapters on morphology, anatomy, biology, 

 classification and descriptions of French spe- 

 cies, malaria, filariasis, yellow fever and pro- 

 phylaxis. The author has done a consider- 

 able amount of work, especially on internal 

 anatomy, but (as a rule) it simply confirms 

 previous statements. 



The specialist who cannot resurrect some 

 long-forgotten name from the mouldy tomes 

 of science to replace a well-known and estab- 

 lished name is indeed behind the times. The 

 craze to place our nomenclature on a stable 

 basis is resulting in discoveries comparable 

 only to those made in recent archeology. 

 With the coming of each new periodical from 

 Europe we wonder what old friend is now 

 lost in the bog of synonymy. Walsingham 

 in Microlepidoptera, Kirkaldy in Hemiptera, 

 Oudemans in Acarina, Cambridge in Ara- 

 neida, and Cockerell in the Coccidse have been 

 tossing genera hither and thither in a most 

 dazzling fashion. Now Kjauss investigates 

 the Orthoptera,t finding (as La Porte and 

 Westwood knew) that even the name of the 

 order falls, a synonym of the older Dermap- 

 tera. Among other changes, the old family 

 Acridiidse becomes Locustidse; Locusta Linn, 

 replacing Acridium Latr. ; while Acrida Linn, 

 dethrones Truxalis Fabr., and Acrydium 

 Fabr. supplants Tetrix Latr. The old family 

 Locustidse becomes Tettigoniidse ; and Aclieta, 

 replacing Gryllus, turns the family Gryllidae 

 into Achetidse. The great pity with all of 

 this reforming is that so much of it is cor- 

 rect. 



In Part II. of a new publication:): Dr. 

 Franz Stuhlmann has an article on the tsetse 

 fly (Olossina morsUans) and its connection 

 with the ' Surrah ' disease of Africa. This 



* ' Contribution a Thistoire naturelle et m^dioale 

 des Moustiques,' Paris, 1901, pp. 128, 22 figs. 



t ' Die Namen der altesten Dermapteren 

 ( Orthopteren ) Gattungen und ihre Verwendung 

 fiir Familien- und Unterfamilien-Benennungen auf 

 Grund der jetzigen Nomenclaturregeln,' Zool. 

 Anzeiger, 1902, pp. 530-543. 



t Bericht fiber Land- und Forstwirtschaft in 

 Deutsch-Ostafrika,' Bd. I., heft 2 (1902). 



disease, which is fatal to many domestic ani- 

 mals, is known in South Africa to be trans- 

 mitted by the tsetse fly. The life-history of 

 the parasite is not yet known, but it is sup- 

 posed to pass certain stages within the fly. 

 The tsetse fly, as Stuhlmann states, is closely 

 related to the common stable fly {Stomoxys 

 calcitrans), and he gives the life history of 

 the latter insect as probably being similar to 

 that of the tsetse fly. The author compares 

 the various species of Glossina, and records 

 finding O. tabaniformis in East Africa. He 

 suggests the various lines of investigation 

 that should be followed to discover means of 

 fighting the disease. 



The government of India has published a 

 paper on forest insects by Professor E. P. 

 Stebbing, Forest Entomologist of India.* It 

 is illustrated by six plates drawn by a native 

 artist. Fifty-two species are treated; a de- 

 scription, life history, nature of damage, and 

 suggestions for control. Most of the injuri- 

 ous species are Lepidoptera, and among them 

 we note Agrotis ypsilon and a number of 

 forms closely allied to the gypsy moth. Three 

 species of CoccidfB of the genus Monophlebus 

 are new. 



The second part of Kertesz's catalogue of 

 the Diptera of the world has been issued. It 

 treats of the families Cecidomyiidse, Limno- 

 biidse, Tipulidse and Cylindrotomidse. There 

 is also a list of the Cecidomyiidse according 

 to the plants that serve the larvae as food. 

 He uses Cecidomyia for the species previously 

 called Biplosis. 



Yellow Entomology. — The popularization 

 of science has gone a long way, but Mr. 

 Harvey Sutherland in the ' Book of Bugs 'f 

 has carried it beyond all previous records. 

 The book treats of the insects most common 

 about the house and yard. It is replete with 

 many interesting actual facts, and contains 

 few serious misstatements (such as Vedalia 

 eating San Jose scale). But all these facts 

 are so thickly sugar-coated with humor and 

 nonsense that it will be difficult for the lay 



* ' Departmental Notes on Insects that affect 

 Forestry,' No. 1, pp. 149, Calcutta, 1902. 



t ' The Book of Bugs,' New York and London, 

 1902, pp. 223, 41 figs. 



