1899] DOES THE ORGANISM REPEAT ITSELF? 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 eases 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 was, 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. 
