1899] DOES THE ORGANISM REPEAT ITSELE? 83 



animals such as Hydra and Galaxea, in the plates of crinoids and sea- 

 urchins, in external ornamentations in molluscs, and in the septa of 

 cephalopods. They must be clearly distinguished from stages in the 

 development of the organism as a whole, for they are features seen in 

 localised parts throughout the whole life, or are capable of being 

 brought into existence by certain conditions throughout the life. 



The author adduces a large number of illustrations from plants and 

 animals, and sums up : " The occurrence of localised stages, and their 

 bearing, may be expressed in the following law, which should be com- 

 pared with the laws concerning youthful and senile stages : — Throughout 

 the life of the individual, stages may be found in localised parts which 

 are similar to stages found in the young, and the equivalents of which 

 are to be sought in the adults of ancestral groups. While this law 

 covers the usual conditions, it is possible and even probable that degrada- 

 tional or progressive features may appear as localised stages. To 

 include such cases the following clause may be added : The equivalents 

 of regressive or progressive localised stages are to be sought in the 

 adults of degradational or progressive series of the group." 



Mr. Jackson's thesis is an attractive one whose applicability must 

 be tested in detail and with impartiality, and it will be interesting, 

 therefore, to see how experts on foliage and budding, fossil sea-urchins 

 and cephalopods deal with it. That it is a luminous suggestion carefully 

 illustrated and tested, and not a mere bow drawn at a venture, is some- 

 thing to be thankful for. 



Nephrite. 



In the Globus, vol. lxxv. No. 18 (May 6, 1899), attention is 

 called by A. B. Meyer to some fresh occurrences of nephrite in 

 Styria. In 1883 he found pebbles or rolled fragments of it in the 

 river-beds of the Sann, near Cilli, and the Mur in Gratz. That 

 these pieces of nephrite were really pebbles w r as, in both instances, 

 questioned, some considering them to be stone implements which had 

 been more or less water-worn and rounded. 



In 1888 Berwerth also found nephrite in the bed of the Mur, 

 and in the present year discovered three more examples among the 

 rolled fragments of that river, one of them measuring 3*6 metres. 



These later finds are considered by Berwerth to remove all doubt 

 concerning the occurrence of nephrite in Styria, and to indicate that 

 it will probably be met with forming thin beds in the metamorphic 

 rocks in the vicinity of the river Mur, an opinion in which Meyer, 

 from his earlier observations, perfectly concurs. 



