i8 95 . SOME NEW BOOKS. 59 



of those substances found in the tissues which are of interest from their 

 connection with the constructive processes involved in the life and 

 growth of a plant. The text throughout is exceedingly clear, and the 

 index full and carefully compiled. 



A Model Text-Book. 



Outlines of Biology. By P. Chalmers Mitchell. 8vo. Pp. xvi., 297, with 

 illustrations in the text, and an Index. London : Methuen & Co., 1894. 

 Price 6s. 



In a book written to introduce students to any branch of learning, 

 there are certain qualities to be demanded. These are— first, 

 accuracy, for nothing should ever have to be unlearned; second, 

 clearness, so that no doubt as to the author's meaning can exist ; 

 third, decision without dogmatism, that is to say, there must be no 

 ambiguity over doubtful points, but a definite acceptance of one 

 explanation for working purposes, although the possibility of other 

 explanations may be admitted ; fourth, caution, no knowledge should 

 be assumed that we do not actually possess, and statements that are 

 only particular should not be made general. There are other qualities, 

 not perhaps absolutely necessary, but eminently to be desired. 

 These are an interesting method of presentment, correct language, 

 and attractive illustration. When the branch of learning in question 

 is one of the natural sciences, then still other qualities are either 

 needful or desirable. Whether education or mere instruction be its 

 aim, that book is most likely to succeed that leads its readers along 

 the same paths as the discoverers of science must themselves have 

 followed. Students should not have facts thrust at them, but should 

 be shown how to find them out ; steps should be made, not simply 

 taken ; conclusions should be drawn, not merely stated ; definitions 

 should be led up to, and not started from. 



These are high ideals, and it will be acknowledged that they are 

 very rarely attained. Indeed, one would hardly be very severe on a 

 writer who fell short in a few of the above-mentioned qualities. 

 When therefore we find a writer who fulfils our somewhat arduous 

 requirements, it is both a duty and a pleasure to award him our 

 highest praise. Such praise it is our pleasant task to offer to Mr. 

 Chalmers Mitchell, the author of the fascinating little introduction to 

 the study of living beings that now lies before us. 



Let us prove, by instances, that this praise is well deserved. 

 Written, as we are told, primarily for candidates preparing to be 

 examined in elementary biology by the conjoint board of the Royal 

 Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of England, the book necessarily 

 follows, in its main outlines, the syllabus issued by that body. The 

 plants and animals chosen as types of structure are, therefore, 

 Pvotococcus, Spivogyra, Botvydium, the Yeast-plant, Bacteria, Amoeba, 

 Voyticella, Hydra, the Earth-worm, the Dog-fish, and the Frog. Of all 

 these organisms the description is bound up with the practical work 

 needed for its verification, so that the student seems not so much to 

 be taught by the printed page as to learn for himself from the 

 concrete facts before him. Further, as each fact is discovered, its 

 meaning is sought for, and the fact, thus brought into line with other 

 facts before and after, becomes more readily fixed in the mind of the 

 student. Also, at intervals, and especially at the end of each chapter, 

 the conclusions that have been gathered bit by bit are summarised, 

 and the lessons taught by the scattered facts are packed into 

 convenient compass for carrying away in the student's brain. A 



