ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 97 



BOOK NOTICES. 



Insect Life ; an Introduction to Nature-Study and a Guide for Teachers, Students 

 and Others Interested in Out-of-door Life : By John Henry Oomstock, Pro- 

 fessor of Entomology, in Cornel) University and in Leland Stanford Junior 

 University, with many illustrations engraved by Anne Botsford Comstock, New 

 York, D. Appleton and Company, pp. 340, with 6 plates and many figures. 

 Price $2.50. 



In this little book Prof. Comstock has given us a treatise, not only of practical value 

 to teachers and amateurs, but also one that the professional worker will find very handy 

 to have just within reach in order to settle some minor point that may suddenly present 

 itself. Best of all, However, is the fact that the work is correct, a feature quite in con- 

 trast with some of the ordinary text-book entomology. There need be no hesitation 

 about recommending this book to anyone, as its style, while not especially technical, 

 is even more or less poetical, yet is never flippant or slipshod in expression. The illus- 

 trations are fine and are not simply pictures, but help to simplify the text; almost anyone 

 who is at all versed in entomology will at once recognize the Katy-did on the cover. 

 There is just one fault to be found with the book, and it is very doubtful if this is to be 

 attributed to the author, and this is the title. A fascinating title may help to sell a 

 novel, or some such work as that, but publishers should learn that this is not true with 

 such books as this. However, it is no discredit to the author that bis book should be 

 found better than its title. For the present, and until there is something much better, 

 I shall recommend this book to those who wish a simple and accurate introduction to 

 the difficult study of entomology. • F. M. W. 



Stories of Insect Life : By Clarence Moores Weed, Ginn and Company, publishers, 

 Boston, U.S. A, and London, pp. 54, with many illustrations.. Price 25c. 



The title indicates the nature of the book, and no one will mistake the figure of the 

 well known " Mourning Cloak " Butterfly on the front cover, even though no attempt 

 was made in the way of colour. This is for the young people, and just the thing for boys 

 and girls who are romping and playing over the fields and meadows, securing that most 

 important element in an education, health. The insects treated of are the most common, 

 and this is a great advantage because it is usually the things that are the nearest to us 

 that we know the least about. Get the children to observe the common things carefully, 

 and they will be all the better prepared to look after the uncommon later on in life. I 

 only wish that some philanthropist would buy up the whole edition of this work and 

 present them to the school children of the country. Surely it would help to make better 

 men and women of many boys and girls, and open up them a world of wonders that are 

 to be seen by any, no matter how lowly, provided they only know how and where to 

 look. F. M. W. 



Guide to the Genera and Classification of the North American Orthoptera : 

 By S. H. Scudder. 8vo. pp. 89. W. H. Wheeler, Cambridge, 1897. Price, $1.00. 



The above volume, like all of Dr. Scudder's books, is exactly what the title states. 

 It is simply a guide for the use of students of the Orthoptera by means of which they 

 may determine the genera of their specimens. It consists of excellent and most carefully 

 prepared tables of the seven families into which the Orthoptera of North America are 

 divided. These are followed by most valuable bibliographical notes in which the student 

 is referred under the head of each family ot insects to all the works which refer to it. 

 Then follows a full list of all the works which refer to North American Orthoptera, 

 arranged alphabetically by authors and a complete index. All who have attempted to 

 study Orthoptera know how badly such a book was wanted, and it is well for the science 

 of entomology that the work was done by suoh a careful and experienced hand. 



J, F. 



7 EN. 



