88 
REVIEWS. 
il Time of Appearance,” we find such entries as “ very rare,” “ only one 
taken,” &c.; still we approve of the table on the whole—the idea is very 
good. 
The author, Mr. II. G. Adams, is fond of hunting out derivations, and 
the origin of names, &c., which are sometimes far-fetched, as the deriva¬ 
tion of Machaon, from “ the Latin Machera, a dagger or knife” (he might 
have said the Greek at once, from which the Latin adopted it), in allusion 
to the pointed tails of the insect; and the name of the comma butterfly 
from the “ outline of the wings, which, forming the kind of curve pre¬ 
sented by the stop called a comma, gave occasion to the name.” Oddly 
enough, in the very next sentence he gives the true derivation while 
accounting for the addition “ album,” which we should have thought so 
plain as to need no comment, much less to excuse such a recondite ab¬ 
surdity as we have just quoted. These are minutiae which we can laugh 
at and pass by; the little book has a good aim, and is well written, is 
uncommonly cheap, nicely got up, and has our hearty commendation and 
recommendation. 
Ere passing from the subject, we may inform our readers that this little 
book is one of a series of similarly cheap and illustrated works now being 
issued by Mr. Adams, two of which have already appeared—one on 
British Birds’ Nests, and their Eggs, the other on Mollusca. Some of 
these we hope to give an account of on a future occasion. 
Reading Lessons. First Book. Edited by Edward Hughes, Head 
Master of the Royal Naval Lower School, Greenwich Hospital. Long¬ 
man, Brown, Green, and Longman. 
Mr. IIuGhes is already well known to the public as a successful writer on 
educational subjects. His excellent “ Outlines of Physical Geography,” 
and “ Scripture Geography and History,” need no commendation of ours 
to make them better known to those who are engaged in the arduous and 
responsible work of education. One of the prominent features of this age 
is the effort which is made in every quarter to imbue the minds of the 
young with a knowledge of scientific subjects. There exists, in fact, a 
rage for scientific education, and in this, as in every similar instance where 
there is a great public desire to be satisfied, abundant opportunity is given 
to quacks and pretenders of every kind to palm off on the unsuspecting 
their spurious wares. There exists at present an anxious and, we think, 
a reasonable desire to appoint a commission to examine “ Adulterations of 
