NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 35 



Index Zoologicus : an alphabetical list of names of genera and 

 subgenera proposed for use in zoology as recorded in the 

 'Zoological Record,' 1880-1900 ; together with other names 

 not included in the ' Nomenclator Zoologicus ' of S. H. 

 Scudder. Compiled by C. 0. Waterhouse, and edited by 

 ' D. Sharp, M.A., F.R.S. Zoological Society, London, and 

 Gurney & Jackson. 



We have given the complete title of this publication, as it 

 best explains the scope and reason of the work. Few descriptive 

 zoologists are unconscious of what it means to provide a new 

 generic title. To find an applicable name previously unused, 

 having reference to some peculiarity of a representative species, 

 and rendered according to the canons of the Greek and Latin 

 tongues, is not too easy. John Wesley is reported to have said, 

 in reference to musical hymnology, that the " devil had secured 

 all the best tunes." In classificatory terminology it is practically 

 certain that previous writers have appropriated all the best 

 names, and consequently the need is urgent that we can refer 

 easily to the generic jargon of our predecessors before adding to 

 the awful list. Scudder, in 1882, gave us such a list to the close 

 of the year 1879, and the present work not only supplements 

 that, but also brings the record to the end of the year 1900. We 

 thank Mr. Waterhouse for his conscientious labours in this 

 dreary field. 



Monographic des Cynipides d'Europe et d'Algerie. Par L'Abbe 



J.-J. Kieffer. Paris : A. Hermann. 

 Monographic des Mutillides d'Europe et d'Algerie. Par Ernest 



Andre. Paris : A. Hermann. 



These two thick volumes form a considerable addition to 

 our knowledge of the Palsearctic Hymenoptera, and, both being 

 descriptive of the same order of insects, may be best noticed 

 together. 



The Cynipides are perhaps generally known as Gall-flies, though 

 some are parasitfc on other insects. It was once supposed that 

 the galls we all so frequently see on some trees were of purely 

 vegetable origin, though now their true hymenopterous cause is 

 known to most school-boys. The author of the first book under 



