LITERARY NOTICES. 



853 



betes are especially associated with the men- 

 tal activity of town-dwellers. Their children 

 are sickly, and if it were not for the constant 

 inflow of new blood from the country, the 

 towns would be depopulated in three or four 

 generations. Dr. Richardson, in his intro- 

 duction to the volume, says, " The divisions 

 are excellent, the title of each division at- 

 tractive, and the mode of progress from stage 

 to stage artistic." He draws attention to 

 certain " short, sharp sayings, each one in 

 its proper place, and easily learned and not 

 easily forgotten." As samples of these he 

 quotes, " Flags and pavements produce no 

 grass." " Brains are the finest raw material 

 of a country." " To kill the weak and in- 

 jure the middling is a long price for educa- 

 tion." He calls it also an eminently sug- 

 gestive book, which, if the author had lived, 

 would doubtless have been expanded. 



On the Creation and Physical Structure 

 of the Earth. By John T. Hakrison. 

 London and New York : Longmans, 

 Green & Co. Pp. 189. Price, $2.50. 

 The author offers this production as an 

 essay toward a theory of the formation of 

 the earth's crust. In his discussion he 

 makes liberal use of passages in the writ- 

 ings of the leading geologists, which often 

 reveal wide differences of opinion concern- 

 ing the questions discussed. He also puts at 

 the heads of several chapters, and scatters 

 through his text, passages from the Bible, 

 with which he evidently deems it essential 

 that his views should conform. A striking 

 case of this tendency to subordinate his opin- 

 ions to the imagined geological teachings of 

 the Bible is where he says that the earth- 

 quakes which now occur result from disturb- 

 ance of the crust in one or other of the old 

 lines of rupture, and asks, " Who can ear- 

 nestly consider this condition of the earth 

 and say that it may not be nearly ripe for 

 another paroxysm ? " He then quotes from 

 Prof. Hitchcock to the effect that the earth 

 contains within itself chemical energies suffi- 

 cient to accomplish its own destruction, and 

 adds, " We have the yet older and surer reve- 

 lation that the earth shall reel to and fro 

 like a drunken man, and, when enveloped in 

 flames, all the works of man shall be burned 

 up." This, in spite of the fact that the pro- 

 gressive cooling of the earth points to its 

 end in frigidity. 



A Test-Book of Animal Physiology, with 

 Introductory Chapters on General Bi- 

 ology and a Full Treatment of Repro- 

 duction. For Students of Human and 

 Comparative (Veterinary) Medicine and 

 of General Biology. By Wesley Mills, 

 Professor of Physiology in McGill Uni- 

 versity and the Veterinary College, Mont- 

 real. New York : D. Appleton & Co. 

 1889. 8vo. Pp. TOO. 

 The plan of this important work is new. 

 It adopts the comparative method, begins 

 with general biology, treats of the cell as the 

 unit, gives an account of unicellular vegetal 

 organisms both on the morphological and 

 the physiological side, then of unicellular 

 animals, next of multicellular organisms, 

 leading up to a consideration of the ani- 

 mal body, the animal kingdom and man's 

 place therein. Following all this is a full 

 exposition of the origin of life in general 

 and of reproduction, very admirably pre- 

 sented. Then the chemical constitution of 

 the animal body is taken up, the blood and 

 the contractile tissues are examined, the 

 graphic method is extensively applied to the 

 study of muscle physiology, the circulatory 

 system is explained, succeeded by an account 

 of the digestive system. Excretion is next 

 dealt with, then the metabolic or chemically 

 transforming processes, while the nervous 

 system and the senses form the concluding 

 portions of the work. 



The plan has obvious advantages. It is 

 much better adapted to giving the learner 

 a correct and comprehensive view of physi- 

 ology than treatises in the usual form and 

 order. Moreover, the work in question is 

 admirably executed and has all the charac- 

 teristics of a truly scientific production. It 

 is certain that physiology must be hereafter 

 studied with reference to general biological 

 laws, and not by piecemeal methods. Then 

 books like the present one will inevitably su- 

 persede the older text-books, presenting a 

 less unified physiology. Dr. Mills's volume 

 will help this progress. It may be safely 

 recommended as one of the best treatises on 

 the subject extant, and in respect to method 

 we know of none more praiseworthy. 



La Pisciculture en Eaux Douces (Fish 

 Culture in Fresh Waters). By A. Gobin. 

 Paris : J. B. Bailliere et Fils. Pp. 360. 



M. Gobin has given us a handy and use- 

 ful book, comprehensive and practical. The 



