26 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



100° F. hatched in 36 hours, while cold if not carried too far, 8-10 days, merely retarded 

 the hatching, but eggs of A. Luna exposed to cold for 20 days were all killed. 



The chief point which Dr. Seifert is seeking to elucidate is whether the variations 

 obtained can be transmitted to the offspring and become hereditary. This field of investi- 

 gation, while much less .startling than that in which Mr. Crampton is working, certainly 

 seems likely to prove more fruitful. 



Among the most important publications on the Lepidoptera of North America which 

 have appeared during the year must be mentioned Prof. Fernald's monograph of the 

 PterophoridiB, with its sixty-two pages of text and nine plates devoted altogether to 

 structural details, which work has been accorded the highest praise by those best able to 

 judge of its merits. 



Mr. Beutenmuller has laid us under a further debt of gratitude by the issue of his 

 " Descriptive Catalogue of the Bombycine Moths found within Fifty Miles of New York 

 City," which appeared last month. This is on the same plan as his previous catalogues 

 of Butterflies and Sphingidse, and extends to ninety-six pages, with nine excellent plates. 

 One hundred and eighty-one species are described, of which ninety-three are illustrated, 

 but from lack of space the author had to omit all generic descriptions. At present this 

 work is only available to those having access to the " Bulletin of the Amerian Museum 

 of Natural History," or are so fortunate as to receive a copy of the author's edition, but I 

 am glad to be able to announce that Mr. Beutenmuller, on completion of the series, con- 

 templates re-issuing the whole in book form, which will then be generally available. 



Mr. Beutenmuller, in addition to carrying on this important work, is also engaged 

 upon studying various genera of the Lepidoptera with a view to revision, and has 

 recently issued a review of the genus Euchloe or Anthocharis, to be followed later by 

 a paper on Argynnis. 



Dr. Dyar has been carrying on his important studies on structure, especially of 

 larvse, and is engaged in conjunction with Dr. J. B Smith upon a monograph of 

 Acronycta, and is also at work upon a new catalogue or check list which, it is promised, 

 will render the Lepidoptera scarcely recognizable by those who have accustomed them- 

 selves to Dr. Smith's Check List of 1891. 



Dr Ottolengui of New York has taken up the Plusia group and has gathered speci- 

 mens of nearly, if not quite, all the known North American forms, and has secured either 

 specimens closely agreeing with all types which he has not been able to see or, where this 

 was impossible, carefully executed colored figures- of such types. He is thus in a position 

 to monograph the group, and has discovered some extraordinary errors which have been 

 current for many years. If I may be pardoned for saying so, his work has been carried on 

 on precisely similar lines to my study of the Callimorphas some years ago, namely, by 

 finding out first what each author meant by his description, fixing the types absolutely, 

 and then working from that basis, instead of taking things for granted and going by 

 guesswork, and this, I contend, is the only true method. 



In Ooleoptera, as I am informed, the illness and death of Dr. Horn has produced 

 almost a standstill. 



In Hymenoptera valuable contributions have been made chiefly by Mr. Ashmead, 

 aided by Dr. Howard, Mr. Marlatt and Dr. Dyar, the latter in Tenthrenid larvse, and the 

 growth of knowledge in this order has been almost phenomenal, while Dr. Smith has 

 been engaged in most interesting work on the underground forms, the Digging Bees, by 

 means of the plaster cast method. 



In Diptera the works of Messrs, Coquillett and Johnson, especially the very 

 important " Revision of the Tachinidse " by the former, have added much to our know- 

 ledge, and it is encouraging to note the increase in the number of students in this order. 



In Orthoptera the event of chief interest has been the issue of Dr. Scudder's most 

 important " Revision of the Melanopli," a work which most have involved an immense 

 amount of labor and research, extending as it does to over 400 pages, and illustrated by 



