702 The American Naturalist. [August, 
very many years, naturalists have collected and observed in Ceylon ; 
yet here comes Mr. Green, at the end of the nineteenth century, and 
reveals a whole series of remarkable forms whose existence-had remained 
unknown. Until Mr. Green began to study Coccidæ, the species of 
this family had never been collected or studied properly in any part of 
the great Oriental region, and for Ceylon only seven species had been 
recorded. Mr. Green has found considerably over a hundred, most of 
them new to science, and he estimates that over two hundred will 
eventually be found in the island. Of the 30 forms described in the 
part of the work now before us, 18 were first described by Mr. Green. 
And there are innumerable other localities in the world, where the 
Coccidologist may reap a similarly abundant harvest. There is a tra- 
dition among Entomologists, that these insects are extraordinarily 
difficult to study. The difficulty is much more imaginary than real ; 
the methods of preparation for study are different from those required 
for other insects, but they are easily learned, and the characters of the 
species are readily determined with the aid of a hand lens and a com- 
pound microscope. The method of procedure is fully explained by 
Mr. Green in his prefatory remarks. There is one thing, however, to 
be remembered: No one can intelligently study the Coccide of one 
country or region alone; since through human means the distribution 
of many of these creatures has become almost or quite world-wide, and 
one never knows what may turn up at any place. In the first part of 
Mr. Green’s work, there are recognized in Ceylon various species first 
described from such diverse regions as Europe, America, Australia and 
pan. 
In Chap. III, Mr. Green gives a new classification of the subfamilies 
of Coccide. He remarks himself, that it is doubtless imperfect ; but 
it appears to the writer to be an improvement on all previous ones. It 
is especially to be recommended for its clearness and consistency, and 
while it must be admitted that on several points there still exists room 
for legitimate differences of opinion, the expected changes must chiefly 
depend on hitherto undiscovered facts. Mr. Green’s new subfamilies, 
Conchaspine for Conchaspis, and Tachardiine for Tachardia, seem @n- 
tirely justified. The writer regrets the suppression of the Asterolecant- 
ine, which certainly form a very compact and natural group ; while as 
to Porphyrophorine—he has never studied Porphyrophora, but Mar- 
garodes surely belongs to a subfamily distinct from Monophleline. — It 
is to be supposed that the Ortheziine, Monophleline and Margarodin® 
(or Porphyrophine) are the most primitive of the Coccide. The writer 
inclines to the view that the Conchaspine are related to the ancestors 
of the Diaspine. : 
