148 



>^ BOOK NOTICES, 



The Coleoptera of the British Isles. By the Rev. \\. 



Fowler, M.A., F.L.S. A'ol. I: Adephaga — Hydrophilidte. 

 8vo. London: L. Reeve & Co. 1887. 



Probably no branch of entomology has a better claim to popu- 

 larity than the study of British Beetles ; for Beetles possess, in a 

 marked degree, three characteristics dear to ever}- collector. They 

 possess great beauty of form and colouring (be not incredulous, ye 

 haters of all creeping things!) ; they are easily preserved, and that 

 without losing their graceful shapes or bright colours ; and they may 

 be collected at all seasons of the year, and in all kinds of localities. 

 Break the ice of the pond in January and put in your net, and you 

 will find Beetles in it : beat the leafing trees and blooming hedges in 

 spring, and Beetles fall from them ; sweep the dens6-grown banks or 

 the clover fields in midsummer, and Beetles will swarm in your net ; 

 shake the mosses and fallen leaves and damp fungi in autumn, and 

 Beetles will come tumbling out, often in myriads. On the dry, sandy 

 shore, in the crevices of the sea-cHfts, under almost every stone, in 

 seaweed, rotten stump, fresh dung, dead sheep, decaying hedgehog 

 (magnificent climax ! ), beetles, beetles everywhere ! 



And yet, with all these advantages to recommend the study of 

 Beetles, British coleopterists have hitherto remained few in number. 

 And this melancholy state of affairs is in a great measure to be 

 explained by the fact that whereas good books in most branches of 

 science swarm, no manual on British Beetles — at once handy, com- 

 plete, and scientific — has hitherto existed. Stephens has long been 

 obsolete : Rye's little book, charming in its way, is no more than a 

 mere introductory treatise on the subject ; while Cox's ' Handbook 

 of Coleoptera' (welcome as it has been for lack of something 

 better) is a disappointing production. His system of description 

 appears easy, but in practice too often utterly breaks down, while 

 the almost total lack of habitats and localities creates one of 

 those vacuums which both nature and her true votaries alike 

 abhor. 



Hence the first instalment of JNIr. Fowler's new work on the 

 British Coleoptera will certainly be received with open arms by every 

 entomologist, for it supplies a crying want, and promises, moreover, 

 to supply it exceedingly well. 



The general system of the book is excellent. A short synopsis 

 of each genus is first given, to facilitate the naming of specimens, but 

 the danger of relying too much on such an artificial system is fully 



Naturalist, 



