Insects : their Structure and Life. A Primer of Entomology.
By George H. Carpenter, B.Sc. Load. (J. M. Dent and Co. 4s. 6d.) —" Of making many books" on insects "there is no end," but still the subject remains unexhausted and inexhaustible, and Mr. Carpenter is justified in saying that "the student has need of a small, inexpensive English book, sketching in outline the whole subject of entomology." That such a book "is necessarily for the most part a compilation," as he admits, goes without saying, and by no means detracts from its value. The amount of fresh material published every year relating to insects is enormous, and if it were not occasionally recast into a form in which it becomes accessible to readers who are not specially studying entomology, it would take a long time before it became part of
the general knowledge of the world. How far Mr. Carpenter has succeeded in his rather ambitious undertaking is a question which will be answered differently by different persons according to their views of what such a book ought to be, but there can be no question that it contains a large amount of useful information hitherto scattered through a great number of separate publica- tions. The arrangement of the book is somewhat novel. The first two chapters deal with the form and the life-history of insects, and are largely based on Professors Mall and Denny's elaborate work on the cockroach. Mr. Carpenter has taken the cockroach to represent a typical insect, and to this he has devoted what some will perhaps consider a disproportionate amount of space. These chapters are followed by others on the classification, orders, surroundings, and pedigree of insects ; and a short classified bibliography of two hundred and seventeen entries, which will easily enable the student to pursue further any special branch of the study in which he happens to feel interested. A full index completes the work, which is illustrated by one hundred and eighty-three woodcuts, mostly copied from previous writers, and many from American periodicals. The systematic portion of the book is as complete as space will allow, and the principal families of insects are discussed in small type. Technical terms are clearly explained, and the book, as a whole, appears to be very fairly trustworthy. It would hardly be reason- able to complain that details which might have been added have been omitted, for space is limited, and much must necessarily be left to the judgment of a compiler as to what he thinks it necessary to include, and what he thinks, often reluctantly, may be omitted_ But of the industry and practical knowledge of his subject possessed by Mr. Carpenter there can be no question.
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