SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



217 



the guidance and furtherance of re- 

 search. The first volume issued, deal- 

 ing with the metabolism and sources 

 of energy in plants, is cyclopedic in 

 its completeness of review of investiga- 

 tions in this phase of the physiology 

 without cumbering its bibliographical 

 lists with titles of unimportant papers. 

 In general, subjects yet under contro- 

 versy are set forth with judicial fair- 

 ness, and the author has made himself 

 familiar with the work of Russian, 

 English and American botanists in a 

 manner not practiced by some of his 

 contemporaries. The translation of this 

 work by Dr. Ewart (Clarendon Press) 

 has given opportunity for the correction 

 of any slight omissions in the bibliogra- 

 phy, and the completed book must be 

 regarded as of the greatest value not 

 •only to the botanist but to the animal 

 physiologist who would cover the do- 

 main of that illusive subject known as 

 "general physiology." 



ANTHROPOLOGY. 



Probably the most striking sign of 

 the increasing interest in the study of 

 primitive man is the organization of 

 well-equipped expeditions for the inves- 

 tigation of prehistoric remains and par- 

 ticular groups of existing savages. Of 

 the latter class, the Cambridge expedi- 

 tion to Torres Straits, under the leader- 

 ship of Professor A. C. Haddon, has re- 

 turned to England, and various prelim- 

 inary reports of the results of its work 

 have already appeared. A new depar- 

 ture in the scheme of work of this ex- 

 pedition was the introduction of psy- 

 chological observations under experi- 

 mental conditions among the natives. 

 The tests which were made were nec- 

 essarily simple, but covered a fairly 

 wide field. They included tests of vis- 

 ual acuteness, color vision and color 

 blindness, acuteness and range of hear- 

 ing, appreciation of tones and differ- 

 ences of rhythm, tactile acuteness and 

 localization, estimation of weights, sim- 

 ple reaction-times to visual and audi- 

 tory stimuli, estimation of intervals of 



time, memory and a number of tests of 

 a more general character. 



The detailed results have not yet ap- 

 peared, but it is evident that there is 

 much of interest to be expected. For 

 example, of about two hundred and 

 fifty individuals of different tribes 

 tested for color blindness, not a case 

 was found, except on one island, where 

 three out of eight subjects suffered from 

 ordinary red-green blindness. Reaction- 

 times are said to be shorter than among 

 the uneducated classes of European peo- 

 ples, but no figures have as yet ap- 

 peared. A fact, important if true, is 

 the reported lack of suggestibility 

 among the natives of the region. This 

 is directly opposed to the general ob- 

 servations of most ethnographers and 

 seems hardly probable. On all points 

 the detailed reports are needed. 



On this side of the world public at- 

 tention has been called particularly to 

 the admirable plans of the Jesup North 

 Pacific Expedition, which has been at 

 work for the past three years on the 

 northwest coast of America and the 

 opposite coast of Asia. During the year 

 just past the first published accounts of 

 its results have begun to appear in a 

 series of handsome monographs from 

 the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory in New York. Professor Franz 

 Boas, the director of the expedition-, 

 furnishes the first two memoirs, one on 

 'Facial Paintings of the Indians of 

 British Columbia' and the other on the 

 'Mythology of the Bella Coola Indians.' 

 The first named is of importance be- 

 cause of its bearing on the evolution of 

 decorative designs. The Indians of the 

 northwest coast differ from most other 

 primitive groups in the matter of deco 

 ration by their failure to develop geo 

 metric designs and their tendency to re- 

 tain realistic portrayals with certain 

 characteristic modifications. In the 

 adaptation of the decorations to the 

 human face the problem has been diffi 

 cult and a large number of examples 

 are given showing the method of solu 

 tion. The memoir on Bella Coola myth 



