NOTES. 
187 
that may-have been studied during the preparation of the diagnosis 
are designated syntypes. A further term— paratype —“ is applied to 
a specimen which has been identified authoritatively by comparison 
with a true type.” I presume that to have been identified authori¬ 
tatively in this sense, the comparison must have been made by the 
author of the specific name. 
The author’s claim that “ no work upon this group of insects has 
yet enjoyed such accurate and abundant illustration ” is well borne 
out by the ten plates (one of them in colours) containing 104 “ full- 
length ” pictures of earwigs. Ceylon is well served in this particular. 
Of the 42 species recorded from this Island, no fewer than 30 are 
fully illustrated. With such a wealth of illustration provided, it 
seems ungracious to ask for more; but one could wish that the 
distribution of favours had included some of the genera that now 
remain unfigured. For while every species in certain genera ( e.g ., 
Forcipula and Labidura) has been honoured, others (e.g., Borellia, 
Nannisolabis, Metisolabis , and others) are left out in the cold. 
The figures themselves are of exceptional merit. Mr. Wilson has 
caught the character (one might almost say the expression) of each 
species in the happiest manner. 
The introductory chapter deals very fully with the general 
structure of earwigs, and is illustrated with some really useful 
diagrams, indicating in the clearest manner every detail men¬ 
tioned in the descriptions. 
The sections on Development and general Bionomics are especially 
interesting and valuable. Every available grain of information 
has been carefully garnered and cleverly fitted into position. These 
sections, which occupy eleven pages, are a feature of the book that 
differentiates it from all other volumes of the series that have yet 
appeared. It is to be sincerely hoped that the authors of future 
volumes will emulate Dr. Burr’s example in this particular. 
A complete fist of the literature of the subject precedes the main 
body of the work, of which it is sufficient to say that the descriptions 
are fully and admirably clear. There are practicable keys to both 
genera and species, which with the ample descriptions should 
make the identification of any species an easy task. 
The appendices include a short section “ On Collecting and 
Preserving Earwigs,” and a complete glossary of terms employed 
in the work. The latter should be studied before making use of 
the descriptions, as the author gives somewhat unusual definitions 
to a few of the terms. Thus, the term conical is “ applied to 
segments which gradually increase in thickness from base to apex ” 
—a definition that pertains more strictly to the word obconical. 
Again, crenate and crenulate usually convey the idea of a finely 
scalloped edge or margin ; but our author employs the term in the 
sense of “ furnished with teeth like a comb a condition that 
would be more properly described as pectinate. 
