( ^ir» ^ rMonllily Microscopical 



V ^-'■^ ) L Juurmil, June 1, 1»7U. 



NEW BOOKS, WITH SHOET NOTICES. 



Protoplasm ; or, Life, Matter, and Mind. By Lionel S. Beale, M.B., F.E.S. 

 2nd Edition. London : Churcliill, 1870. — We have only to state 

 in reference to this the second edition of Dr. Beale's interesting 

 book, that it is much enlarged and contains a new section on the 

 Mind, It is an able display of the author's well-known views in 

 reference to the early development of the tissues, and embraces an 

 attempt to apply these views to some of the problems, half physical, 

 half metaphysical, which of late years have attracted the attention 

 of thinking biologists. Whatever opinions may be held as to the dis- 

 pute between Dr. Beale and Mr. Huxley, it is certain that the volume 

 itself is full of interest both to the microscopist and the ordinary 

 educated man. 



The Cell-doctrine : its History and Present State, &c. By James Tyson, 

 M.D., Lecturer on Microscopy in the University of Pennsylvania. 

 Philadelphia : Lindsay & Blakiston, 1870. — It is surprising how 

 very little is known by medical men generally of the arguments 

 for and against the cell-doctrine of Schwann and Schleiden. 

 Notwithstanding the admirable essay published by Professor 

 Huxley many years since in the ' Mcdico-Chirurgical Review,' and 

 the numerous fine memoirs which Dr. Beale has given us from 

 time to time, it is still a fact that very few know how the question 

 as to the mode of origin of the tissues now stands. It was to meet 

 this want, and, at the same time, to help to promulgate Dr. Beale's 

 views, that tho author of the present volume prepared this treatise. 

 The book is in great part a compilation, but it also details some 

 original observations of the author's. It contains a handsome 

 coloured plate, copied from one of Dr. Beale's works, and has a 

 few woodcuts intercalated in the text. It is further provided with 

 a most copious bibliograj)hical list, which (although some of the 

 names are missx)elt here and there), must prove very useful to 

 those engaged in investigation on this subject. As we have said, 

 it is in great part compiled, and treats historically of the different 

 opinions on the generation of the tissues which have been put 

 forward both before and since the time of Schwann and Schleiden's 

 famous essays. It is the first book in which we have seen any 

 thorough epitome and fair recognition of Professor Huxley's views ; 

 and though Dr. Tyson dissents from these, as he does from many 

 others, we must say that his statement of the several opinions of 

 conflicting anatomists is characterized by fairness, clearness, and 

 honesty. We said that one of his objects has been to support 

 Dr. Beale's ideas, but this requires more qualification ; for, though 

 he gives a general adhesion to Dr. Beale's doctrines, he dissents 

 from these in so far as they give a structureless character to the 

 germinal matter. In tlie author's own words, " Wc deem it 

 incorrect, therefore, to describe germinal matter as in all instances 



