1897]. Recent Literature. 701 
that shall not be restricted to the immediately applicable—one that 
shall index thoroughly the entire range of the sciences, any portion of 
which appears at present capable of immediate use in agricultural lines. 
The development of the agricultural colleges should be broad and 
healthful and not the reverse. 
Finally, there was a proposition, which was referred to the Execu- 
tive Committee, to endeavor to obtain from Congress for the develop- 
ment of mechanical schools and courses of instruction the same en- 
couragement that has been accorded to agriculture. The proposition 
is eminently a worthy one, for no class of the people, if one may judge 
from census returns, needs such encouragement more than this. 
RECENT LITERATURE. 
The Coccidæ of Ceylon.^—The work by Mr. E. E. Green, now 
to be reviewed, might seem from the title to possess very little general 
interest. Ceylon is a long way away; and the Coccide are apparently 
considered by most people to be unworthy of serious attention, except 
with a view to their destruction. Now while the economic side of 
Coccidology is highly important, it is maintained that the subject pos- 
sesses also a strong Darwinian interest, and that the perusal of such a 
work as Mr. Green’s will—or should—grealy profit any naturalist who 
interests himself in general biological problems. We have in these 
Coccide a strictly Homopterous type, but so modified that the family 
falls outside most of the current definitions—not only of Homoptera, 
but of Insecta! Combined with a remarkable reduction and even loss 
of parts, is the development of new characters of the most diverse kind 
to meet the several needs of the insects. We have here acase in which 
the most extraordinary modification has taken place, without masking 
the real affinities of the group ; and everything is made so clear by Mr. 
Green’s descriptions and beautiful colored plates, that no intelligent 
person could fail to understand the exact condition of affairs. 
- Not only should the work be examined by naturalists, but it should 
be shown to students of biology in our colleges. It ought to encourge 
all those who aspire to do original work in biological science. For 
* The Coccide of Ceylon, by E. Ernest Green, F. E. S , Part1. With 33 Plates. 
London, Dulaw & Co., 1596. 
