5932 



Notices of New Books, 



Notices of New Books. 



* The Insect Hunters; or, Entomology in Verse, ^ London: New- 

 man. \s. Qd. 



* * * " Ballads that 

 Speak in tones so plain and childlike, 

 Scarcely can the ear distinguish 

 Whether they are sung or spoken." 



From the date of our earliest acquaintance with entomologists and 

 Entomology there has been a demand, universal, clamorous, always 

 unsatisfied, for a *' First Book a book that should induct knowledge 

 into the minds of the uninitiated ; a book that he who runs may 

 read." True we had Kirby and Spence's ^ Introduction;' but, and we 

 say it advisedly, that work really contains no introduction to the 

 science. Volumes i. and ii. are, beyond a question, the most de- 

 lightful reading that one need wish for ; but we may read them again 

 and again, we may digest and appropriate the vast amount of agree- 

 able and instructive matter they contain, without stepping over the 

 threshold of that temple which may be said to contain the arcana of 

 the science. Volumes iii. and iv. are ponderously learned, and, 

 shall we venture to say it ? totally unadapted for a beginner. To the 

 uneducated they are a sealed book, on account of their style and lan- 

 guage ; to the poor, and it is no disgrace to be poor, they are 

 a sealed book, on account of their price ; and so true are both these 

 positions that we never hear of these two volumes unless some learned 

 critic, once in the course of seven years, alludes to them for the pur- 

 pose of pointing out some errors of explanation or arrangement which 

 he thinks he has detected. The reprint of vols. i. and ii. in a con- 

 densed form, and at the amazingly low price of five shillings, is 

 a boon on the part of Mr. Spence for which we cannot feel too grate- 

 ful ; this, which in all probability is the last public act of a long and 

 useful life, will make him as dear to those who succeed us, as his 

 truly catholic kindness has made him to all who have enjoyed the 

 honour and the pleasure of his personal acquaintance. This cheap 

 reprint has recommended Entomology in its most enticing form to 

 hundreds who had never before known even the meaning of the word. 

 If, therefore. Entomology be a science worthy of study, to Mr. Spence 

 alone is due the merit of introducing it to a world of readers totally 



