1881.) Recent Literature. 885 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
ScuppER’s BUTTERFLIES: THEIR STRUCTURE, CHANGES AND LIFE- 
HISTORIES.'—In this book we have a very successful attempt at a 
thorough study of the butterflies of a limited region, New Eng- 
land, not only from the point of view of the structure of the 
winged insects, but also of their transformations ; and the author 
does not stop here, where many books on butterflies would natu- 
rally end, but in the light of modern biological science, he leads 
the student to observe their habits, their seasonal changes and his- 
tories, their styles of coloration, the sexual differences in coloring 
and structure, and the probable reasons for such diversity ; then 
he speculates on the origin and development of ornamentation, 
on the ancestry of butterflies, and presents a genealogical table 
which also serves, as it naturally should, as a tabular view of the 
classification of butterflies in general, and finally he discusses the 
geographical distribution of butterflies, and in a few last words 
points out to the student how such a diversified region as New 
gland received its butterfly population, especially how an Al- 
pine summit, such as that of Mt. Washington, was peopled with 
its Arctic-like forms, the Gexets semidea. 
n the preparation of these chapters, the author has evidently 
drawn very largely on knowledge acquired through his individual 
observations pursued for a number of years. So far from being 
in any sense a compilation, it is a fresh and original treatment of 
a most interesting theme, replete with many facts heretofore un- 
published and unknown to the scientific public. The presenta- 
tion of the subject is nearly always clear and simple, and the 
illustrations are, in many cases, original, and adds materially to the 
interest and value of the text. There is a good deal of inequality 
in the figures, the woodcuts, particularly those borrowed from the 
works of Harris and Riley, have been well printed ; but by a false 
€conomy a number of figures prepared for photographic repro- 
duction, however originally well prepared by the artist, do not 
print well, and we do not see how shaded drawings of this kind 
€ver can-be made to present a respectable appearance by the side 
°f good woodcuts, though simple outline sketches print well 
enough. . 
Without farther enumerating the excellent features of the book, © 
together with its good paper, neat typography and its general 
usefulness to the student, we will only say that it is a matter of 
Congratulation that so original and stimulating a book has ap- — 
Peared ; that it is a credit to American science, and that it 1s 
Unique in its nature, no such work, so far as we know, being in 
existence in England, France or Germany. — : 
* Buiterflies : thei 4 Life-histories, with special reference to 
Dag hls Toate poe yg rometinn oa age 
Of Butterflies, with an appendix of practical instructions. By SamuxL H. ScuDDER. 
ee New York, Henry Holt & Co., 1881. 12mo, pp. 322, with 201 figures. — 
