285 
in convenience and pain by their attacks upon men and horses in the 
field, as well as by their extraordinary infestation of houses. The 
reason for this extraordinary abundance of Vespida3 is supposed by 
Miss Ormerod to be the long-continued dry w eather of the spring. It 
seems there were not the " usual intervals of cold and wet to catch and 
destroy the queen wasps, when warmed into active life and drawn out 
from their winter shelters by what in most years is an alternation of 
sunshine with weather that leaves the houseless queens between whiles 
exposed to just the conditions unfavorable to their own existence and 
likewise to that of their embryo nests." 
Monograph of the Phycitinae and Galleriinae. — A very important work on 
these two sub-families of the Pyralidre has recently come to us through 
the courtesy of its author, M. E. L. Ragonot, of Paris. It is published 
at St. Petersburg as Part vn of the Memoires sur les Lepidopteres 
issued under the auspices of the Grand Duke Nicolas Mikhailovitch. 
The history of the preparation of the monograph is given in the preface, 
and in a long introduction a full discussion of the sub-families and of 
the generic characteristics is given. This introduction, with its synop- 
tic tables, will prove invaluable to all students of the groups. The bal- 
ance of the monograph, some 658 pages, is taken up with full descrip- 
tions of the species, the generic diagnosis accompanying the considera- 
tion of each genus* There are 23 chromo-lithographic plates, admirably 
executed, with sufficient detail of structure to make them extremely 
valuable for identifying species. The first three are devoted entirely 
to structural details, while the balance are colored figures. These are 
arranged very tastefully, and by giving only the body and one pair of 
wings, a great many figures are crowded on each plate, while at the 
same time a certain harmony of arrangement has been maintained by 
the wings on either half of the plate opposing each other. 
One of us has followed M. Ragonot's work for many years now, having 
had a pleasant personal intercourse and correspondence with him. We 
know how faithfully and diligently he has worked, and of late years 
under many difficulties of poor health and confinement; and we con- 
gratulate him and Lepidopterists generally upon the final issue of his 
efforts. Such monographs as these give dignity to and advance the 
science of Lepidopterology. We regret that the fashion has been fol- 
lowed of printing specific names in capitals, and although the author 
has done this to conform to the preceding volumes of the Memoires, he 
nevertheless inclines to defend it, though he would have preferred con- 
fining the capital letter to proper names. He fails to see the utility of 
uniformly dropping the capital letter for specific names, and gives as 
the chief reason for opposing this custom, which is spreading, that it 
becomes impossible to recognize those species, of which the names 
