124 



Reviews and Book Notices. 



up in the same place this autumn. He does not include Helio- 

 this peltigera among 'casuals,' though only a single specimen 

 was taken at Kilnsea Beacon, at the ' extreme seaward edge of 

 the sandhills at Spurn.' The writer's opinion is that Heliothis 

 peltigera in this country is always a ' casual.' One insect new to 

 science and one or two new to Britain are included among the 

 'micros.' The species new to science, Gelechia tetragonella, 

 was taken by the late John Sang some twenty years ago, on 

 a salt marsh at the mouth of the river Tees. Mr. Porritt, on 

 the strength of the place of capture being 'near Redcar,' claims 

 this as a Yorkshire insect. I always understood Mr. Sang that 

 he had taken this on the Durham side of the river, and I know 

 of no salt marsh on the Yorkshire side likely to produce any- 

 thing entomologically. Be this as it may, Mr. Porritt did quite 

 right to include it according to the published account, but 

 I think he is mistaken for all that. By the way, there is a 

 printer's error in connection with this insect that should be noted. 

 On page 252 the year ' 1895 ' is evidently a misprint for 1885. 



The list of insects in connection with melanic changes is 

 a startling one from its length, and it is certainly not complete. 

 In suggesting that 'smoke' is 'a probable cause,' Mr. Porritt 

 does not go beyond facts, and he hopes that the Committee of 

 the Royal Society, now examining this phenomenon, will pro- 

 vide a satisfactory solution. May it be so. 



Mr, Porritt proposes to exclude from his former list ten 

 species that he is now convinced should never have been 

 included. Several of these are given with great doubt in the 

 original lisl, and are probably properly excluded now. With 

 all this the list is now swollen to 1,386 species, an enormous 

 number for one county. 



By the way he does not include PLusia 77ioneta, w'hich certainly 

 was taken by Mrs. Holmes, of Seven Oaks, at Robin Hood's 

 Bay in 1901, and which I would expect has occurred in many 

 places since. 



To conclude, the list is carefully prepared, well printed, and 

 will be a valuable help to those who are studying the distribution 

 of our insects. John E. Robson. 







' The Year Book of the Hull Trades and Labour Council ' 

 for K)04 is a very different publication from the generality of 

 works of this ciiaracter, and Mr. F. W. Booth, the Editor, is to 

 be congratulated on the nature of the articles he has secured for 

 the benefit of the working classes, for whom the year book is 



Naturalist, 



