140 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:3— Mch., 1916 



and that the effects are passed on to the offspring, but that the 

 character is a sex-linked character. He similarly says, that the 

 training of young setters has added to the hunting skill of the 

 animals, and that this acccumulated ability has been transmitted. 

 He also takes up the case of the Holstein-Friesians to show 

 that increased butter production has similarly been accumulated 

 and transmitted. He then applies his theories to man. The 

 book contains a deal of interesting information. The facts are 

 presented forcibly. It is certainly a valuable contribution to 

 neo-Lamarckian evolution. 



Conklin's Heredity and Environment consists of a series of 

 lectures presented at Northwestern University on the Norman 

 W. Harris Foundation. The opening chapter is on Facts and 

 Factors in development. The first part of this takes up a brief 

 outline of the development of animals and gives considerable 

 attention to the development of man. Then the development of 

 mind is considered and the phenomena which disclose the rudi- 

 ments of mind in the lower organisms are discussed. I know of 

 no other presentation of the matter that is at once so lucid and 

 so brief. Chapter 2, on the "Cellular Basis of Heredity," is an ad- 

 mirable presentation, as would be expected from the author, than 

 whom no one in America is more competent to clearly state this 

 phase of the matter. This chapter takes up the distinction between 

 germ plasm and soma plasm, a study of the egg and the sperm, 

 fertilization and cleavage processes. It briefly presents the evi- 

 dence that the chromasomes are the bearers of hereditary qual- 

 ities, and makes the application of the theory to man. It dis- 

 cusses the organization of the egg and the mechanics of develop- 

 ment. Chapter 3 is on the Phenomena of Inheritance, especially 

 as applied to man. This is a statement of Mendel's Laws, and 

 the supplementary laws that have been found necessary to ex- 

 plain the apparent exceptions to the simpler statement of Mendel. 

 Chapter 4 discusses the influence of environment. Chapter 5 

 deals with the control of human heredity. Those who are al- 

 ready, as biologists, more or less familiar with the content of the 

 earlier chapters, will turn with great interest to Chapter 6 on 

 Genetics and Ethics. The theory of evolution played havoc, 

 more or less, with our earlier philosophies, undoubtedly upset 

 the beliefs of many people, and the student is glad to follow so 

 clear a thinker as Conklin in his discussion of the bearing of ev- 



