172 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Animal Life : Reptiles, Amphibia, Fishes and Lower Chordata. Edited by 

 J. T. Cunningham, M.A., F.Z.S. [Pp. xvi + 510, with four plates in 

 colour and numerous other illustrations.] (London: Methuen & Co. Price 

 10s. bd. net.) 



This volume, like others of the series, is written from an evolutionary point of 

 view, the section on Reptiles by Mr. Lydekker, F.R.S. ; that on Amphibia and 

 Fishes by Mr. Boulenger, F.R.S., and Mr. Cunningham ; and the remaining 

 sections on the Lampreys, Hag-Fishes, Sea-Squirts and other primitive or de- 

 generate relatives of the vertebrates by Prof. J. Arthur Thomsom — all well-known 

 specialists of eminence. It is well printed, admirably illustrated and not so over- 

 laden with china-clay that it cannot be held, though somewhat too heavy to handle 

 comfortably. The book is full of fascinating information and should not only 

 command a wide circle of adult readers but also be of real service in schools. No 

 better prize or gift-book could be given to an intelligent boy, especially to one 

 who has a taste for natural history. As the general editor of the series remarks 

 in his brief preface, "some of our neighbours assure us that 'Darwinism' is dead ! 

 If these pages show anything they show that the contrary is emphatically the 

 case !'' 





The Life of the Plant. By C. A. Timiriazeff. Translated from the revised 

 and corrected seventh Russian edition by Miss A. Cheremeheff. [Pp. 

 xv ' + 355-] (London : Longmans, Green & Co. Price 7s. 6d. net.) 



In this book, Prof. Timiriazeff has reproduced a course of lectures he delivered in 

 Moscow in 1876 with the object, he says, "of informing the public," in a popular 

 way, of the then state of vegetable physiology. He appears to have been fully 

 conscious of the difficulty of the task he had undertaken — that it was necessary 

 that the author of such a review, as he expresses it, should " give up for a while 

 his usual point of view, that of a specialist ; and should, so to speak, step back a 

 little in order to see what science looks like at a distance." The book is worth its 

 cost for this precious sentence alone. Our writers of text-books, as a rule, have no 

 sense of perspective : if they would only step back at times and contemplate their 

 work from a distance, they might see how forbidding its appearance is to the 

 intelligent reader. One reason why science, at the present day, is making little 

 or no headway — why those who are set in authority over us are so lamentably 

 ignorant of its methods and of its teachings — is that its devotees, with few excep- 

 tions, are so steeped in their professional jargon that they are incapable of 

 expressing themselves in clear and simple terms that the multitude can under- 

 stand. We trust that the praiseworthy example set by a Russian writer will not 

 be without influence ; at least it will show that it is possible to deal with difficult 

 problems in a simple and attractive way. 



The book is remarkable on account of the clearness and simplicity of its style 

 and also of the admirable series of apt experimental illustrations that are given in 

 explanation of the various processes considered. It is divided into ten chapters, 

 in which are discussed the external and internal structure of the plant ; the cell ; 

 the seed ; the root ; the leaf ; the stem ; growth ; the flower ; the plant and the 

 animal ; and the origin of organic forms. In a final chapter, the plant is considered 

 as a source of energy. The work of translation has been most admirably done. 



In the English preface, Prof. Timiriazeff rightly protests against the alarming 

 spread of the " Reizphysiologie," with its morbid outgrowth of " Neovitalism " 



