
No. 425. NOTES AND LITERATURE. Oo 
407 
One might wish to see a more extended notice of the biology 
of the Phoridz, but as long as we have not yet nearly reached the 
point where we can extend our classification to the larval stages, it 
is not improper to allow the natural history of the species to form a 
separate subject. 
This paper will be of great advantage to American workers, as 
it will enable them to ascertain how far our species are identical 
with the European, Becker's descriptions being so exact that it will 
be possible to determine without comparison of specimens, I should 
judge. 
To take up a family that is in a state of chaos and transform it 
into order and beauty by a single publication is a great achieve- 
ment, and one not accomplished without long and arduous study. 
Mr. Becker has produced a monumental work, easily the greatest 
he has yet attempted, and one which may well be taken as a model 
by younger entomologists. J. M. A. 
Habits of Insects. — An English rendering of the first volume of 
Fabre's delightful Souvenirs entomologiques. Etudes sur l'instinct et les 
maurs des insectes, though with an exceptionable title and an over- 
burdened title-page,! is to be heartily welcomed. It makes access- 
ible to a larger circle some of the early work of a keen inquirer into 
the faculties of insects. Well and favorably known since 1879, 
Fabre's observations have instigated similar and successful work 
elsewhere, and it is only from the philosophical side, Fabre being a 
rigid opponent to any form of evolution, that his writings are open to 
hostile criticism. 
The volume under notice begins with an account of the habits and 
life history of Scarabeus sacer, and is devoted almost wholly to the 
higher Hymenopteta, though incidental observations concerning other 
insects are given. 
With due allowance for the many difficulties, the translation is 
fairly well done.  Editorially the volume cannot be considered as 
altogether satisfactory; the supervision of an entomologist should 
have precluded the translation of gri//on indifferently as “ cicada,” 
“cricket,” or “grasshopper,” the almost universal use of “feet” 
1 Fabre, J. H. Zmsect Life. Souvenirs of a Naturalist. Translated from the 
French by the author of Mademoiselle Mori. With a preface by David Sharp. 
Edited by F. Merrifield. With illustrations by M. Prendergast Parker. London, 
Macmillan & Co.; New York, The Macmillan Company, 1901. xii + 320 pp» 
