i\PRIL 6, 191 l] 



NATURE 



might, with advantage, have been devoted to these 

 subjects. 



Dr. Beard gives, in his opening chapter, a concise 



statement of the views associated with the names of 



Lamarck, Spencer, Darwin and Wallace, and Weis- 



mann. The following chapter, on heredity, deals in 



turn with Galton's law, Weismann's theory of the 



germ plasm and with germinal continuity. The third 



s chapter discusses Mendelism, biometry, and the muta- 



) tion theory of De Vries. Dr. Beard's views can be 



■ best summarised by quoting the statement at the head 



[of the concluding chapter — 



' "The phenomena of heredity and genetic variation 

 ^ appertain to the germ-cells, that is, they are germinal 

 in nature. All ancestry passes through a continuous 

 line of germ-cells, and never through the cells of the 

 Individual (somatic cells) containing the germ-cells. 

 An ' inheritance of acquired characters ' is impossible, 

 for there is no handing on of anything. The indi- 

 vidual is merely a terminal and lateral offshoot. In 

 the higher animals direct development, a building up 

 of the individual, and a somatic origin of germ-cells, 

 do not exist. . . . The formation of an individual is a 

 anere incident in a certain chain of events." 



He concludes by stating his belief that unconscious 

 memory, in Hering's sense, is sufficient to account for 

 heredity as exhibited by living things, and that if this 

 l)c recognised "much that has Been imagined becomes, 

 not merely futile, but an unnecessary multiplication 

 of causes." 



Prof. Moore has given an interesting account of 

 the functions of many of the different kinds of cells of 

 the body, for instance, the leucocytes, the red blood- 

 cells and their adaptation of form to their special 

 functions, the intestinal cells and their secretion, the 

 ductless glands and internal secretions, &c. Clearly 

 written explanations, as free from technicalities as 

 ])ossible, are given of many of the new terms used 

 in modern medical science, e.g. agglutinins, anti- 

 bodies, opsonins, precipitins, antisera, hormones, &c. 



The chapter on tropical diseases is much too short. 

 The only diseases considered are malaria and sleeping 

 sickness, and the account of the former contains a 

 considerable number of imperfect or inaccurate state- 

 ments. The following occur on one page (144) (i) : 

 " The mosquito was found to develop a special cycle 

 of the malarial parasite in the glands of the stomach," 

 which is a very loose statement of the matter ; 

 nothing is said of the presence of the parasites 

 in the salivary glands of the mosquito, or of their 

 mode of entry into a new human host. (2) The 

 changes in the organism of malaria which take place 

 in the mosquito are designated "certain preliminary 

 stages of development," which surely gives but a faint 

 idea of the fundamental changes which actually 

 occur. (3) Mosquitoes do not deposit larvae, as as- 

 serted, but lay eggs. (4) It is stated that the larvae, " in 

 order to develop further, must at a certain period 

 ascend to the air at the surface of the water " ; as a 

 matter of fact they must ascend periodically, and in 

 most cases frequently, in order to obtain the necessary 

 air. Laveran is not Italian, as stated on p. 143, and 

 the first trvnnnosome in a European was described by 



IDutton, not Dalton (p. 145). We should have thought 

 NO. 2162, VOL. 86] 



that the recent campaigns against Stegomyia (not 

 Stegomya, p. 144) and yellow fever were worthy of 

 more than casual mention, and that several other 

 tropical diseases were of sufficient general interest to 

 make reference to them desirable. Figures of Ano- 

 pheles and a tsetse-fly would have been helpful to the 

 reader. 



In the short chapter on public health, the author 

 shows how the general health of the community has 

 improved, and urges the necessity for segregation of, 

 and vigilance regarding, cases of consumption. 



Dr. Harrison outlines in an interesting manner the 

 chief phases of development of anthropology ; the 

 origin of man, of inventions, of civilisation, and of the 

 races of man, are discussed, and an account is given 

 of the races of Europe and of Britain. The article is 

 illustrated by several excellent photographs and a 

 number of coloured and line drawings. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 The Niger and the West Sudan, or the West African's 

 Notebook. A Vade Mecum containing Hints and 

 Suggestions as to what is Required by Britons 

 in West Africa, together with Historical and 

 Anthropological Notes, and Easy Hausa Phrases 

 Used in Everyday Conversation. By Captain 

 A. J. N. Tremearne. Pp. viii+151. (London: 

 Hodder and Stoughton, and A. H. Wheeler and 

 Co., n.d.) Price 6s. net. 

 This book is written by a former Hausa scholar of 

 Cambridge, who is also a doctor in anthropology, and 

 the work is the result, seemingly, of some years' 

 residence in Nigeria, with visits to the British colo- 

 nies en route. It contains a good many vocabularies 

 of English-Hausa interspersed amongst the chapters, 

 and some of these will no doubt be of much use to 

 officials and travellers residing in or visiting these 

 regions. There is a great deal of general informa- 

 tion about British West Africa, but little evidence of 

 independent research on the part of the author, while 

 the quotations with which the book is studded are of 

 a somewhat ancient and well-worn character. Some 

 recent French and German works (historical, 

 geographical, anthropological, &c.) are overlooked, 

 though they throw a new light on the ancient history 

 of British possessions in West Africa, as well as of 

 the adjacent regions under other flags. 



A somewhat contemptuous attitude is taken up 

 with regard to the educated negro, which seems to 

 be derived less from the author's own observation 

 and experience than from the pessimistic views ex- 

 pressed by writers and travellers of half or a quarter 

 of a century ago. In reference to the youth trained 

 at Government or missionary schools — in Sierra 

 Leone, for example— the author seems to be quite 

 unaware of the part played by these intelligent and 

 active young men— engineers, artisans, clerks, &c. — 

 in the "opening up of the interior of that colony, or 

 in like manner of the Gold Coast. 



In drawing up a list of societies and institutions 

 which may be of use to the African official or student, 

 the writer of this book omits all mention of the 

 African Societv, which is surely one of the most use- 

 ful, for its journal contains the best and latest in- 

 forination on West African subjects. The portion of 

 the work which deals with the Hausa people (chiefly 

 by quotations) possesses some interest, but contains 

 fantastical notions, original and borrowed, which 

 may only mislead the student, such as, for example,, 

 tlie suggested derivation of Hausa from Habeshi 



