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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



between the circulation in animals and 

 plants, but that in animals devoid of pulsa- 

 tile vessels and hearts it is in some senses 

 identical, and traceable to the operation of 

 the same forces." 



The subject of the circulation in animals 

 occupies the bulk of the book, that of the 

 invertebrates, as being in some sense in- 

 termediate between plants and the higher 

 animals, being treated first. In a number 

 of the lowest of these no trace of a circu- 

 lation has yet been detected, the nutritious 

 fluids in such cases being supposed to pass 

 from the alimentary canal by interstitial 

 transudation throughout the entire body, as 

 the sap passes into the substance of cellular 

 plants. A step in advance is observed 

 where, as in the polypi, medusae, etc., the 

 alimentary canal is of large size and rami- 

 fies in every part of the body, serving at 

 the same time as a circulatory and aliment- 

 ary apparatus. The next advance is the 

 appearance of distinct vessels, minus con- 

 tractile power, as in plants. Vessels pos- 

 sessing contractile power, but without any 

 distinct contractile organ, are next found ; 

 and afterward the heart appears, increasing 

 in complexity of structure along with the 

 related organs, until its highest develop- 

 ment is reached in the mammalia. 



On the subject of the forces which give 

 rise to the circulation in the higher animals, 

 the author, while admitting that a large 

 share of the work is done by the heart, 

 argues at length in favor of the view that 

 this organ alone is not equal to the task ; 

 and that other agencies, such as osmosis, 

 capillary attraction, absorption, chemical 

 affinity, etc., aid materially in the process. 



To the physiological student the book 

 is exceedingly interesting, not only for the 

 novel views which it contains, but for the 

 admirable way in which the author has 

 presented the leading facts of his subject, 

 as drawn from the whole range of living 

 Nature. The print is good, and the illus- 

 trations, of which there are one hundred 

 and fifty, are also well done. 



Lectures on some Recent Advances in 

 Physical Science. By P. G. Tait, M. A. 

 Pp.337. Macmillan & Co. Price, $2.50. 



The disputes that have arisen in various 

 quarters regarding the honor due to differ- 

 ent investigators for working out the mod- 



ern doctrines of "Energy" have been par- 

 ticipated in by Prof. Tait, of Edinburgh, 

 and this volume is probably due to his in- 

 terest in the controversy. He was invited 

 by a number of his friends to give a course 

 of lectures on the chief advances made in 

 natural philosophy since their student-days, 

 and the author remarks that "the only 

 special requests made to me were, that I 

 should treat fully the modern history of 

 energy, and that I should publish the lect- 

 ures verbatim." The strictly historic part, 

 however, is by no means the main, or the 

 most important, feature of the work. It 

 furnishes its method, but the book is valu- 

 able chiefly as explaining and expounding 

 the modern doctrines of energy in a manner 

 at once popular and thorough. No adequate 

 exposition of these views has yet gained en- 

 trance into our text-books of physics ; and 

 a work was much needed, by a competent 

 man, which would present the whole ques- 

 tion in its latest aspects. The volume of 

 Prof. Tait, though not without its defects, 

 may be commended as meeting this want 

 in a tolerably satisfactory manner. 



Through and through the Tropics. By 

 Frank Vincent, Jr. New York : Har- 

 per & Brothers. Pp. 304. 



Thirty thousand miles of travel affords 

 large opportunity for observations, and to 

 give an account of them in a book of three 

 hundred pages seems a hopeless task. Mr. 

 Vincent, however, has made the attempt in 

 this racy book, and has succeeded fairly in 

 presenting a series of descriptions of some 

 of the more important places visited by 

 him, and the reader follows him with inter- 

 est to the close. His chapters on the Sand- 

 wich Islands, and on the journey to High 

 Asia, to the sacred city of the Hindoos, and 

 to the famous Taj Mahal, are especially full 

 of interest. 



The Early Literature of Chemistry. VI. 

 By H. C. Bolton. 



This sixth part of Dr. Bolton's " Notes 

 on the Early Literature of Chemistry" 

 treats of the ancient papyrus-book on medi- 

 cine discovered by Ebers at Thebes, Egypt, 

 two or three years ago. Dr. Bolton gives the 

 table of contents of the book with sonic 

 selected passages translated out of the hie- 

 ratic original. 



