54 
THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
The British Tortrices. By S. J. Wil- 
kinson. London : John Van Voorst, 
Paternoster Row. Price 2 os. 
This long-expected work has at length 
appeared, and we believe will be found 
to answer the end for which it was de- 
signed, and, by removing a main im- 
pediment to the study of the Tortricina, 
will be the cause of more attention being 
paid to that group than has of late been 
the case. 
The Tortricina, from the greater uni- 
formity of structure and more general 
similarity of habit, can never compete 
with the Tineina in attractiveness ; but 
their larger size and the delicacy of 
markings of many of the species have 
always a tendency to ensure for them a 
due amount of attention, whilst the 
ravages of many of the larvae on our 
rose bushes and fruit trees are sure to 
attract the notice of all interested in 
gardening pursuits. 
Those horrid Lozotcenia larvae have 
lately been devouring with great gusto 
many of our apricots, first gnawing the 
fruit externally, under the shelter of a 
neighbouring leaf, or protected by the 
decaying blossom, and then gradually" 
establishing a complete retreat in the 
centre of the fruit itself. It is quite im- 
possible for any one to walk in a garden 
and ignore the existence of the Tor- 
tricina. 
The number of species introduced in 
Mr. Wilkinson’s volume is 298, — little 
more than half the number of the species 
which vve meet with in Mr. Staintou’s 
work on the Tineina, yet that extended 
to only 307 pages, whereas Mr. Wilkin- 
son’s volume extends to 320, and as the 
type in the two volumes is similar, it is 
scarcely necessary to remark that Mr. 
Wilkinson’s descriptions are much more 
lengthy than those of Mr. Stainton, and 
at the same time more space is devoted 
to the habits of the insects and to the 
points of distinction by which they may 
he separated from the nearly allied 
species. 
As to the descriptions of the insects, 
we quote as follows from the author’s 
preface: — “ All the descriptions have 
been made from the insects themselves, 
without reference to what has been done 
by other authors; and the manner of 
writing them is uniform throughout. 
Whilst describing the anterior wings, I 
have, wherever practicable, taken the 
palest tint as the ground-coleur, and 
then have noticed the separate markings, 
commencing at the base and proceeding 
to the apex.’’ 
Some ingenious correspondents remark 
that the work would have been more 
complete with a glossary, but we are at 
a loss to see for what purpose such an 
appendage should be needed ; to explain 
the terms of colour it would have been 
useless, as seldom are two persons found 
to agree precisely in their notions of 
colour, and though what an author calls 
“ olivaceous-fuscous ” in one species, he 
will probably similarly designate if de- 
scribing another species, yet a different 
author would probably have chosen a to- 
tally different phraseology to express this 
particular shade of brown. Any words 
not applying to colour used in the dc- 
