gists. This number completes the first volume of the work, and has a full accompaniment of titlepage, indexes, errata, &c., together with "a list of the genera and species described in the volume, for the purpose of labelling cabinets." All these things seem given, that is, supernumerary to the quantity of pages assigned to a number.

With this number, which completes the first volume, price 18s., there is also given an appeal to all lovers of natural history, all lovers of science, all who have the welfare of entomology at heart," to afford, by the purchase of the first volume, those who have originated this work and advanced, voluntarily and for the sake of science alone, their responsibility for its pecuniary support, "the means of continuing their exertions, and prosecuting their undertaking." This appeal we are happy to be able, on the best authority, to state has not been made in vain. Owing to the liberal support advanced by a few true naturalists, there is now no prospect of the cessation of the Entomological Magazine. This is gladdening news.

No. vi., for January, 1834 (the first number of the second volume), will and does (for we have been shown the land of promise) contain the following communications:- 1. Colloquia Entomologica; by Corderius Secundus. Four lovers of nature, of natural history, entomology, and the Entomological Magazine, are made to discourse much (12 pages), and merrily, on men and things thereto appertaining. 2. Monographia Chalcidum; by F. Walker, Esq. F.L.S. In this continuation of the monograph (from vol. i. p. 446.), the families Leucopsida and Chalcididæ are described. The first includes but the genus Leucópsis; the second, seven genera. The characters of the genera and species are given in great detail, and numerous synonymes are cited. Mr. Walker describes several species from the neighbourhood of Paris, communicated by M. F. de Laporte, and some derived from the Island of St. Vincent, taken there by the late Rev. Lansdown Guilding (p. 13. to 39.).—3. Capture of Insects at Burghfield; by the Rev. C. S. Bird, M.A. F.L.S. This is a most interesting communication. Mr. Bird supplies a list of those of the species of insects, not quite common, which he has captured during ten years' residence at Burghfield. He has been most successful in the order Lepidoptera. "This success I owe to the use of a lamp to attract moths. During the moonless nights of summer, I sit with a sinumbra lamp, and perhaps one or two smaller lamps, placed on a table, close to the window. The moths speedily enter the room, if the weather be warm. I have had a levee of more than a hundred between the hours of ten and

...

twelve. In the spring, too, and autumn, I have been frequently fortunate, though generally having my patience sufficiently tried. . . . If, at any time of the year, a warm mist pervade the air, there is almost a certainty of success." At cool times of the year, the window is kept shut till the moths knock for admittance. Reading and writing may be combined with this plan of mothing. "Moths are extremely sensible of any keenness in the air a north or east wind is very likely to keep them from venturing abroad. Different species have different hours of flight. . . . I have, for experiment's sake, sat up in the summer till three o'clock, when the whole heaven was bright with the rising sun, and moths of various kinds have never ceased arriving in succession till that time. Some of them must come from a considerable distance. Scotóphila porphýrea, being a heath moth, must have come nearly a mile." Not only the Nocturna have come to Mr. Bird in the night, but "the Semidiúrna, the Geométridæ, accompany them at all hours. Many coleopterous insects are also attracted... sometimes swarms of gnats... the house cricket once or twice. Redùvius personatus has been amongst my captives. A few common ichneumons and Tipulæ are frequent guests." What a world of interest these successive visiters must induce in a summer's night. Surely an entomologist must, while thus sitting and observing, have, like Shakspeare, a rich " Midsummer Night's Dream" of his own! Mr. Bird illustrates many of his remarks (and we have given but a sample of them) by adducing the names of the insects whose manners those remarks describe. His list follows, with those species distinguished" which he does not take by the lamp." 4. Thoughts on the Geographical Distribution of Insects; by Delta. This is professed to be written with a trembling hand; but the author seems to have fortified himself very strongly with an extensive and intimate acquaintance with the nature of his subject. Will not the paper in our Vol. V. p. 149., collateralise a little with this? Delta's essay is to be continued. V. Entomological Society: an account of its meetings and transactions. These have been, and promise to continue to be, very interesting, and of excellent effect.VI. Osteology, or External Anatomy of Insects; by E. Newman, Esq.F.L.S. Letter 2. On the Head of Insects. We have, in VI. 435., given our humble opinion of this author's first letter on the osteology of insects. The present second letter, like the first, is of the highest possible value, and, therefore, interest, to every student in entomology; and who in entomology is not a student? It is a most elaborate production, very long (more than 20 pages), and yet, at every step through

out, teems with facts, comparisons, contrasts, arguments, deductions, and information; with, here and there, discursive notices in illustration, written playfully and pleasingly, in agreeable relief to the severer, that is, more strictly technical, nature of the thesis. Would we had volumes full of such notices on insects as that supplied on the dragon fly in p. 67. The end for which Mr. Newman labours is the establishment of a uniform nomenclature of the parts of insects; for, until we can speak of the various parts of insects in common terms, a reciprocal communication of ideas between those who study insects (and every one who loves nature must) cannot take place. We wish his amiably intended, and, we believe, excellently executed, labours all regard, and cordially commend them, and the nomenclature he has proposed for the parts of the head of insects, to the analytical examination of every entomologist. VII. Essay on the Classification of parasitic Hymenoptera; by A. H. Haliday, Esq. M.A. - VİII. Varieties. Among the contributors of the communications under this head are, Messrs. Swainson, Westwood, Babington, Cooper, Denny, Wood, Walker, and others.

Bushnan, J. Stevenson, F. L. S., Surgeon to the Dumfries Dispensary, &c.: the History of a Case in which Animals were found in Blood drawn from the Veins of a Boy, with Remarks. 8vo, 74 pages; 1 plate, exhibiting the one species of animal found, of the natural size and magnified, both coloured. Highley, Fleet Street, London, 1833. The history of the particular case which led to the production of the book is of less interest than the remainder of the book's contents. The author has passed in review, and taken the essence of the evidence supplied by, every author who, from the earliest records till now, has written on, or in any way mentioned cases of, the occurrence of entozoa and other animals within the veins, arteries, heart, stomach and intestines, uriniferous organs, &c., skin, &c.; and his book is valuable, were it only as supplying a concise and essential abstract of the facts on this subject, which are scattered up and down in numerous and expensive books on medicine.

The history of the recent case, and the abstract of the previously recorded ones, occupy 40 pages. Pages 41. to 74. are occupied with a review of the "6 very different opinions which have at different times been entertained with respect to the origin of the proper entozoa of the human body," and with the author's own opinion on the subject. He arranges the opinions which have prevailed, according to the principle they involve, and makes five of them; and pro

ceeds to argue the untenableness of four of these, and the tenableness of the fifth, with which his own coincides. This is that of Rudolphi and Bresmer, "that the entozoa in general are generated primarily, not from ova at all, but spontaneously in each organ in which they are found.”

Wyatt, Mary, Dealer in Shells at Torquay: Algæ Damnonienses, or Dried Specimens of Marine Plants, collected, principally, on the Coast of Devonshire. Vol. I., containing specimens of fifty species. Simpkin and Marshall, London.

We have announced this work in VI. 445. Mr. Babington has contributed the following remarks on the first volume of it:-"The plants are carefully dried, are very fine and perfect specimens, and most of them are beautifully in fructification. The names adopted are those used in Dr. Hooker's British Flora, vol. ii., and a reference is also given to Greville's Alga Britannica; Sowerby's English Botany and Dillwyn's Confervæ are also quoted in some places. Many of the plants in this volume are rare, such as Nitophýllum oceánicum and ulvöídeum, Lauréncia obtùsa and tenuíssima, Gigártina aciculàris and Teèdii; and the three following new species described by Hooker in his British Flora, Mesogloía purpurea, Griffithsiana, and viréscens. The work is known to be under the superintendence of a lady justly celebrated as a marine botanist." [Mrs. Griffiths.]

Finch, I., Esq., Cor. Mem. Nat. Hist. Soc. Montreal, &c. : Travels in the United States of America and Canada, containing some Account of their Scientific Institutions, and a few Notices of the Geology and Mineralogy of those Countries: to which is added, an Essay on the Natural Boundaries of Empires. 8vo, 455 pages. London, Longman, 1833.

The "essay on the natural boundaries of empires" should be our quarry, but we can only note its drift. "The limits of empires are controlled by the physical geography of the soil, and the power of man: the first is eternal, the last variable. The decisions of nature soon cut asunder the artificial arrangements of man. To acquire a true knowledge of the history of nations, we must study the physical structure of the soil, for this is the leading feature on which historical details are always dependent. Mountains, seas, and oceans, rivers, lakes, deserts, and forests, form natural divisions on the surface of the earth, which serve as boundaries to the several empires." The relative influence of these is then

considered in detail, and connected with the evidences of history. Each kind of boundary is the theme of a distinct chapter. The entire essay is made to occupy upwards of 100 pages.

ART. II. Literary Notices.

"VOLUMES on Entomology and Ichthyology, by J. Wilson, Esq., F. R.S.E, W. Macgillivray, Esq. M.W.S., the Rev. W. Duncan of Applegarth, and the Rev. J. Duncan, M.W.S., will appear at an early date. The next volume will contain the

Natural History of the Felina, or Lions, Tigers, &c. A portrait and memoir of Cuvier will accompany the volume." (Extract from Jardine's Natural History of Humming-birds, vol. ii. Nov. 1833.)

An Introduction to the Study of Nature, illustrative of the Attributes of the Almighty, as displayed in the Creation, by J. Stevenson Bushnan, F.L.S., &c., is announced to appear in the spring of 1834, uniform with the Bridgewater Treatises.

Cuvier's Classification of the Animal Kingdom.—An abstract of this is given in No. 63. of the Penny Cyclopædia: it occurs under the article Comparative Anatomy.

The Parent's Cabinet of Amusement and Instruction: No. XIII., price 6d., of this excellent monthly periodical, contains some information on snails and spiders, which render it a fit present for juvenile naturalists.

A Teacher's First Lessons on Natural Religion; by Charles Baker, head master of the Yorkshire Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, &c. &c. Price 3d.

Geological Positions in direct Proof of an Important Part of Scripture Chronology. A circular containing these positions, classed under two lines of argument, has been sent us; and it is there stated, that "a detail of the facts on which the above positions are founded, has been sent to the Editors of the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal, in which work they will probably soon appear, in the form of two papers."

Of Curtis's Illustrations of British Entomology the 10th volume is just completed and published.

Of Stephens's Illustrations of British Entomology it is stated, in No. v. of the Entomological Magazine, that a number, in resumption of the work, is about to be published.