TWO BUTTERFLY BOOKS. 113 
insect. Possibly the author considers this question to be still sitb judice, and 
therefore out of place in a work of this character. 
On turning to the main, or systematic portion of the work, we observe that an 
attempt has evidently been made to bring the text up to date, and we notice with 
pleasure that such recent authorities as Schatz and Rober are quoted. After pre- 
liminary remarks on classification, and a diagnosis of the families of butterflies 
according to the authors just referred to, Mr. Kirby proceeds to give us a 
systematic account of the chief genera of the {amily Ny/upbalidte, with descriptions 
of the British forms and of one or more species of each exotic genus mentioned. 
Useful notes on metamorpho.ses, habits and distribution are also added. A con- 
siderable synonymy is given of each species mentioned, but we are inclined to 
think that a small bibliography of the most important systematic works on the 
.subject would have been better suited to the needs of the majority of readers. 
On p. 196, in stating that the iridescent colours of the wings of Morpho and other 
butterflies are due to “ refraction (sic) from the edges of the scales,” Mr. Kirby 
is guilty of the repetition of a previous error. Apparently the author does not 
realise the difference between refraction and r///l'raction. As to the coloured 
plates with which this volume is embellished, or at least the majority of them, 
we can say little that is complimentary, and we cannot agree w'ith Air. Kirby when 
he states in his preface that “it was desirable to use the plates of the old ‘ Jardine ’ 
series.” Such pictures may have satisfied the generation for which they were 
intended, but nowadays they make us shudder. Since the publishers appear to 
pride themselves upon their pictures, we venture to hope that, should a second 
edition of the present work be called for, as we trust will be the case, they will 
see their way to cancel the whole of the present series of plates and replace them 
by others which shall be specimens of modern chroino-lithograi>hy worthy of 
the subject. 
Mr. Furneaux’s book, besides being attractively got up, well printed, and on 
good paper, is carefully and at the same time pleasantly written, while the illus- 
trations, although some of the plates are a little over coloured, are remarkably w'ell 
done. The large number of woodcuts, both of apparatus and insects, are new and 
delicately cut, and in conjunction with the coloured plates afford faithful illus- 
trations of the whole of the butterflies, and many of the more conspicuous tnoths 
besides. In the first sixty-one pages we have an interesting general account of 
the structure and habits of butterflies and moths in their various stages, while the 
concluding chapter of this part gives us an introduction to their classification. A 
useful table on p. 35 shows the disposition of the appendages and spiracles on the 
segm.ents of the caterpillar. We wish that in his remarks on classification, the 
author had included a synoptical table of the characters of the species ; this would 
not have entailed any great amount of labour, while it would have increased the 
practical utility of the book. 
The second portion of the book is devoted to “ Work at Home and in the 
Field,” and is extremely well done. Clear instructions as to the method of 
making nets, collecting-boxes, and other impedimenta are given for the benefit 
of ardent spirits whose pocket-money is not commensurate with their enthusiasm, 
while after chapters on collecting the perfect insects and their previous stages, we 
have others on rearing and setting, winding up with the arrangement of specimens 
in the cabinet. A chapter on preserving larvae, concluding with the injunction — 
“Never refuse a place to any object that relates something of the life history of 
the creatures you are studying,” deserves special mention. The sentence quoted 
is instinct with the spirit of the true naturalist, and is heartily to be commended. 
Indeed, we are pleased to recognise that throughout the book the author con- 
sistently endeavours to foster a love of observation in the open air, showing that 
the creatures of which he writes are not merely pretty patches of colour, but have 
each a story to tell, and thus enforcing anew the lesson we learnt in our youth 
from the delightful old tale of “ Eyes and No Eyes.” As many of those who will 
become possessors of this book doubtless live in London, while even their 
country cousins occasionally get the chance of paying a flying visit to the 
Natural History Branch of the British Museum in the Cromwell Road, we wish 
the author had made passing allusion to Lord Walsingham’s magnificent collec- 
tion of British Lepidoptera, with their larvre and food-plants, in that institution. 
Nothing more interesting or useful to the young entomologist, or better calculated 
