102 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



The Royal Natural History. Edited by Richard 

 Lydekker, B.A., F.R.S. Illustrated with 72 

 coloured plates, and 1,600 engravings. (London and 

 New York : 



Frederick -^ 



Warne and (f „ \ / 



Co., June, <-/?■ \i) 

 1895.) Pub- 

 lished in is. 

 parts. 



Since our 

 last notice of 

 this hand- 

 some and 

 popular nat- 

 ural history, 

 it has pro- 

 ceeded to 

 19 parts and 

 volume iv. 

 This last part 

 also contains 

 the index to 

 volume iii., 

 which com- 

 pletes the 

 Mammals 

 and com- 

 mences the 

 Birds. There 

 is a liberal 

 sprinkling 

 of ornate 

 coloured 

 plates thro' 

 the volumes, 

 but as we 

 have previ- 

 ously said, we 

 much prefer 

 portraits of 

 all kinds of 

 animals with- 

 out colour, 

 unless they 

 are far too 

 expensively 

 produced for 

 ordinary il- 

 lustration; 

 take for in- 

 stance the 

 plate of hoo- 

 poes in part 

 19 before us. 

 Its brilliancy 

 far outshines 

 its accuracy. 

 The plain il- 

 lust rations 

 are generally 

 most effec- 

 tive, and we 

 reproduc e 



Narina Trogon. 

 (From " The Royal Natural History.") 



two of them which have been recently drawn for 

 this work. As a general guide to a knowledge of 

 the different kinds of living animals, we strongly 

 commend Messrs. Warne and Co.'s Royal Natural 

 History. 



The Lepidoptera of the British Islands. By Charles 

 G. Barrett, F.E.S. Vol. ii. Heterocera (Sphinges 

 and Bombyces). 372 pp. large 8vo. (London: 

 L. Reeve and Co., 1895.) Price 12s. 



This is, as explained in a supplemental title, a 

 descriptive account of the families, genera, and 

 species indigenous to Great Britain and Ireland, 

 their preparatory 

 states, habits, and 

 localities. This great 

 undertaking by Mr. 

 Barrett is one which 

 is looked upon with 

 much interest by 

 the entomologists of 

 these islands, and 

 we believe this 

 volume contains the 

 letterpress which ac- 

 companies coloured 

 plates in another 

 edition, which we 

 have not yet seen. 

 There does not ap- 

 pear to be any refer- 

 ence in the volume 

 before us, that such 

 other edition exists 

 with plates. This 

 we consider unfortu- 

 nate, because the 

 uninitiated acquiring 

 this volume would 

 think its purchase 

 was comparatively 

 money wasted, on 

 finding there is a 

 more complete book 

 on the same subject, 

 by the same author, 

 published at the 

 In writing the letterpress for this 

 work, Mr. Barrett has largely catered for the 

 requirements of the collector, rather than for the 

 scientific student, and its pages bubble over with 

 the author's great experience in studying this group 

 of insects, as learned in their haunts and among 

 them when living. A fuller description of the 

 habits of some of our rarest species, as known on the 

 Continent would have been of much help. For 

 instance Sesia andraniformis as an imago is fond of 

 frequenting the flowers of the privet, and if this is 

 more generally known, it may not continue to be 

 the rarity it is now with us. We hope Mr. Barrett 

 will be spared to complete this great work, which 

 will indeed be monumental ; but we cannot help 

 wishing he had commenced with the Micro- 

 Lepidoptera, for there is no one who has a greater 

 knowledge of them in this country. J. T. C. 



Lens-work for Amateurs. By Henry Orford. 

 225 pp. 8vo, with 231 illustrations. (London and 

 New York : Whittaker and Co., 1895). Price 3s. 



" Of all branches of handiwork this is perhaps the 

 most difficult, and most abounding in disappoint- 

 ment to the inexperienced, and no amount of 

 theoretical or mathematical knowledge will super- 

 sede many hours of careful, and often wasted, 



