256 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



known from other nearly related creatures, and how their transformations 

 differ in various orders. The last chapter is more technical, and in it is 

 described, with the aid of a very good figure, the external anatomy of a 

 hymenopterous insect, the parts of the head, thorax, abdomen, and legs, 

 the nervures of the wings, &c, all of which is most important informa- 

 tion to those who wish to study the subject more closely. We can 

 cordially recommend this little book to the notice of all who are 

 interested in natural history, and who wish to increase their knowledge of 

 the insects of which it treats, as they will find in it a fund of information 

 which cannot but interest and instruct them. 



"The Story of Insect Life." By W. R. Westell. 8vo., 339 pp., 

 coloured plates, and 334 plain figs. (R. Culey, London, 1907.) 5s. net. 



The author has succeeded in writing a very interesting book on 

 insects in a quite popular manner, which should be useful in teaching 

 the rudiments of entomology to those into whose hands it may fall, for 

 it is surprising how little is known, even among well-educated persons, 

 about the. commonest insects which they meet with almost daily. How 

 few persons, comparatively, have any idea that caterpillars and grubs are 

 only imperfect states of some very different looking insects, and know 

 that they do not perpetuate their species by laying eggs ? Most persons 

 are very incredulous when they are told that insects in their perfect 

 condition never grow, and that small flies and beetles do not grow into 

 large ones. This book is very well printed and is profusely illustrated ; 

 most of the figures are very good, but some are practically useless. The 

 coloured plates, of which there are eight, are not numbered consecutively 

 with the uncoloured ones ; the latter are treated as if they were pages, and 

 the figures on them as if they were in the letterpress, so that when the 

 reader is referred to, say, plate G, it is difficult to find, for the figures on 

 the coloured plates are numbered differently from those on the others, 

 and the only clue to the plate is to refer to the list of illustrations, when 

 you learn that it faces chapter so and so ; then on turning to the table 

 of contents you find the page on which the chapter begins. It is to be 

 hoped that this will be altered in the next edition. The figure of the 

 wasp's nest on plate 5 is very misleading — it shows the cells as if they 

 were formed horizontally, like those of the honey-bee ; but the cells in 

 a wasp's nest are vertical, with the opening downwards. The relative 

 size of the figures to the insects which they represent is not given, except 

 in a very few instances, which is a great omission, particularly in a 

 book of this description. Some of the figures taken from microscopic 

 slides which are semi-transparent are very unsatisfactory, as they do not 

 give a good idea of the real aspect of the object — figs. 31, 38, 39, for 

 instance. 



On p. 39, in alluding to the provisions of Nature to prevent injury 

 to living creatures when they fall, the author says : " The most common 

 provision to av©id injury is that the falling body forms itself into a 

 circle, or part of a circle, so that it does not fall plump on the centre of 

 gravity." This sentence is very ambiguous, and one fails to understand 

 its meaning. In mentioning the dor-beetle (p. 115), it is stated that it 

 its its egga in dung-heftps; it may do so at times, but it more 



