664 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



Fig. 82 is borrowed from Mrs. Ayrton without a word of acknowledgment. A 

 very good point is the large number of references to papers and books on the 

 various subjects. The book is exceptionally well bound. 



Outlines of Evolutionary Biology. By Arthur Dendy, D.Sc, F.R.S. 

 [Pp. be + 454-] (London : Constable & Co., Ltd., 1912. Price 12s. 6d. net.) 



Prof. Dendy's intention in writing this book evidently has been to purvey biology 

 for the million and badly enough it is wanted : mais l'homme propose et le bon 

 Dieu dispose. Will it serve the appointed purpose ? It has been most favourably 

 noticed by the Press but does this mean anything in these days of grace, now that 

 reviewing is a lost art and very few of those who have an opinion dare express it ? 

 Owing to the fact that the specialist too often lacks sense of proportion and is apt 

 to live a life apart and have no inkling of the depths of ignorance of those whom 

 he addresses, his opinion on a work intended for popular consumption may be of 

 less value than that of the ignoramus thirsting for information. It is therefore 

 permissible that a book such as that under notice should be criticised from the 

 point of view of those who have no special knowledge of its subject-matter and yet 

 are most anxious to learn ; indeed it would be much better if books were some- 

 times reviewed by those for whom they were written and not by those who 

 presume to understand them : if only we had the opinions of schoolboys and 

 schoolgirls on the works that are provided for their consumption, there would be 

 some chance of a chastened race of authors being evolved who would write books 

 worth reading, as if writers realised how often their productions are spoken 

 of in very uncomplimentary terms by juvenile readers who are forced to use 

 them, their self-sufficiency might be abated and they might eventually even be 

 overcome by some sense of modesty and retire from the field : those who "feel a 

 want" in the course of their educational ministrations would more often seek 

 comfort in some less harmful form of exercise than that of attempting to write a 

 book. When the new Socialism is established, no doubt such things will be pro- 

 vided against. 



It is easy to agree with the opinions expressed by the author in the earlier part 

 of his preface. There is no doubt that biology, the fundamental science of living 

 things, is not properly encouraged by educational authorities in this country — but 

 is the fault entirely theirs ? Can the subject be taught satisfactorily in schools, is it 

 sufficiently developed ? That attention is usually directed to the more special 

 branches no one will deny but is not this because of our more than relative 

 ignorance of the general subject ? Is it possible at present to write a book that 

 will be of use — we desire to emphasise the "of use" — to those who have no 

 special biological training as well as to students who have taken the 

 ordinary first year's course and largely with a view to meet the requirements 

 of those who wish to familiarise themselves with the rapidly accumulating results 

 of biological investigation and the bearing of these results upon the problems 

 of life ? 



It is only necessary to read through the opening chapter of Prof. Dendy's book 

 to realise how great the difficulties are : the author, like most zoologists it is to be 

 feared, obviously does not possess sufficient knowledge of chemistry and physics to 

 discuss the subject dealt with in it — the nature of life : to us it seems that when 

 the beginner has read through the chapter, he will know less than when he began : 

 like the frog in the fable, he will be puffed out with importance, as he will be 



