1896. SOME NEW BOOKS. 337 



the process of dehydration being made as rapid as possible. Clear 

 with oil of cloves, or, better, with xylol, taking great care to work out 

 all trace of alcohol. Mount in Canada Balsam, or imbed in paraffin 

 or celloidin by usual methods. Objects so fixed may be further 

 treated with hardening or staining reagents, but strong mineral acids 

 and alkalies are to be avoided, hence ammonia carmine or borax 

 carmine cannot be used. They may be stained in bulk or sections 

 with alum carmine or cochineal, or with any anilines. Hasmatoxylin 

 does not give good results on account of its blue colour. The objects 

 when fixed can be treated, without further preparation, with chromic 

 or picric acid or potassium bichromate. If it is required to treat 

 with HgNOg to show epithelia,the HCl in the fixative must be replaced 

 by HNOa, and after fixation the washing must be very thorough, to 

 avoid formation of silver molybdate. Osmic acid is best applied by 

 adding it to the fixative fluid after the objects have been in it for 

 some time. 



Rawitz's chapter on staining ends with a useful appendix giving 

 the synonymy of the various aniline stains employed in histological 

 technique. One and the same stain is often known by as many as 

 four names, or even more, and this frequently causes very great 

 confusion to beginners. We have heard of a student who, being 

 directed to stain a tissue with vesuvin, complained that he could not 

 find this stain in the laboratory, although bismarck brown was staring 

 him in the face on his own shelf. How many people, not specialists 

 in this subject, know that magenta, fuchsin, rubin, and aniline red 

 are but four different names for the same thing ? 



The chapter on drawing and plastic reconstruction will appeal 

 especially to the morphological student, who often has to reconstruct 

 the structure of a minute object from a series of sections. The 

 usefulness of the book is much increased by the complete index, and 

 it is in every way a work to be recommended, especially to the class 

 of students for whom it is primarily intended. E. A. Minchin. 



The Natural History of Ornament. 



Evolution in Art : as illustrated by the Life-histories of Designs. By Professor 

 A. C. Haddon. Pp. xviii,, 364. London: Walter Scott, Ltd., 1895. Price 6s. 



The great interest which in recent years has centred round the study 

 of art from a scientific standpoint, and the investigation of the natural 

 history, so to speak, of designs, amply justifies the numerous books 

 and essays treating of this aspect of the subject, which have lately 

 come into existence. This field of research is indeed a wide and a 

 fascinating one ; and as yet, for the most part, the surface alone has 

 been skimmed, the depths still remain to be probed, but the activity 

 of researchers bids fair to secure a rapid development of the subject. 



The present volume is the latest addition in this country to the 

 study of the " Life-histories of Designs," and will be welcomed as a 

 concise and suggestive essay, tending to advance our insight into the 

 nature and raison d'etre of art designs. Professor Haddon lays stress 

 upon the now generally admitted fact that the ordinary biological 

 deductions and lines of inquiry are applicable to the study of the 

 growth, affinities, and migrations of designs, and he brings the eye of 

 a trained zoologist to bear upon the subject. 



As regards the material with which he deals in this book, there 

 is but little which can be called new. He has borrowed very freely, and 

 nearly all the instances cited and most of the theories advanced have 

 been published elsewhere, as is also the case with practically ail the 

 illustrations. The first section of the book, dealing with the 



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