340 



NATURE 



[May II, 191 1 



tions 



f i 



IS sun i 

 ascribiiU ;.. 

 body be bor 



th.r 

 un 



We .11 . .:!■:• 

 a f.ii' nuu' 

 hithorto .suspicu d. 



After dealing,' \\iili th<' IkmU'v •;• >\ :-.^:i-iv,.i!i^naiil 

 diseases, ami willi riKirnt 1' locally 



malignaiii .'ii'I \i'i<i rraililv :■ idiuin, 



the ti'! ^idwtlis air (li ' ind a 



niltnhl-l ... , .1 . , (ii-sCI illld •'■ '■ ' •,,.r-irx- 



beiK'lii i- .Nper iciici il in a 



casts, the tumours become smaii. 1 . wmn' me paiu-nt 

 is K lioved of much pain. A cun- i- (k casionally ob- 

 tahied, luit v\<x\ case nf malii^naiU tumuiir that can 

 be dealt uilli \>\ Ihr sui-^.tni slinuld l»c (■\lii()aled. 

 Subsequent trcatm.nt uiili radium may be of the 

 greatest value in distr. >\ im; an\ cancerous c.lls that 

 have escaped removal ii\- liic siit:.;r(in, and 

 currence of the disease may lie prevented. 



Various rheumatic cunditions liave been treated with 

 some success l>v radio-active earths. CnmpnrinfJ 

 radium treatment with treatment by Rontg^en rays, ilie 

 chief difTerence is that the t^amma rays of radium are 

 far more penetrating- than the X-rays, their effects 

 being manifest on the tissues at a depth ten times as 

 great as that of X-rays. Hence they are to be pre- 

 ferred for deep-seated affections. Radium rays are 

 perfectly "constant" in quantity and quality, whereas 

 X-rays are constantly varying in both these attributes. 

 Hence a dose of radium rays can be measured with a 

 precision that is wanting in the case of X-rays. 

 Radium can be placed in natural cavities or buried 

 in tumours, and left for an indefinite period, giving 

 off its radiation all the time. The quality of the 

 scars left after radium treatment is usually exceed- 

 ingly g-ood, and is certainly better, as a rule, than 

 the scars left after X-ray treatment. Radium, again, 

 is readily portable from patient to patient. The chief 

 disadvantage of the use of radium is its extremely 

 high price and the consequent risk of loss by breakage 

 or accident. The chief advantage of X-rays over radium 

 is the large area to which the X-rays can be applied. 



In reviewing the present state of our knowledge of 

 the therapeutic effects of radium, the feeling reached 

 is that we are making our applications empirically 

 in the hope of lighting, almost by accident, on some 

 property of value in the cure of diseases which have 

 hitherto baffled the physician's skill. 



A. C. Jordan. 



ELEMENTARY ZOOLOGY. 

 An Introduction to Zoology. By Prof. R. W. Hegner. 

 Pp. xii + 350. (New York: The Macmillan Co.; 

 London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 19 10.) Price 

 8s. net. 



1'^HERE are some interesting distinctive features in 

 this new introduction to zoology. Only a few types 

 are studied (all of them Invertebrates) ; they are dis- 

 cussed so as to illustrate the principles of the science ; 

 the morphological aspect is not specially emphasised, 

 NO. 2167, VOL. 86] 



but is coordinated 



•liides ;;. 

 ma mapi 



where tl; 

 idereH to 



.ih 



■ysiological aspect (which, 



<,f inf. 1. relations and be- 

 'livisions of 



tiie - " i^iwvement), the 



auth. of living organ- 



: bioio^iy seems too eatily 



rs), thence to the cell, and 



an introduction to the Meta- 



significance of the transition 



i introduces some exceedingly U9C- 



,,.. ,^. .ims, the book goes on to Hydra 



r Coelentcrates, Unsegmented Worms, the 



! ' ' ^ ' = ^' '^' fVayfish and Arthn^ 



dmirahly treated), dflp 

 bees in general. I !m n te-iiows a rhapter on the histon- 

 of zoolc^y (entitled Ilisi(»rical Zoolc^y "), and the 

 book ends with a terse consideration of the factors in 

 evolution and related questions. There is a very use- 

 ful hihlioi^raphv, and a glossary. 



The .mthor show s a keen efhicativc instinct (though 

 the |,. nimir.il) of tile chaptfT on evolution is question- 

 able); there is ;i marked freshness and individuality of 

 treatmetii, and the a--ist.inci- of a number of experts. 

 who have r( ,ad particul.ir chapters, has secured an 

 enviahle freedom from mistakes. 



Havine expressed our admiration of the outlook 

 and workmanship of Prof. Hegner's book, we may 

 direct attention to what appear to us to be blemishes. 

 (a) Since no complete pll^ -w , i-eh. Tnie-,1 re.descripticm 

 of anv vital activity h ' seems 



to us a great pitv to gi\e \0unf4 suiuenis a prejudice 

 in favour of mechanistic theories, (b) Being indifferent 

 to the curricula of American I'niversities, we cannot 

 reconcile ourselves to an introduction to zoology which 

 practically (and advisedly, of course) ignores the 

 Vertehrates. Especially in a book which is so praise- 

 worthy in its recognition of the animal mind, kept 

 by most "zoologies" at a distance, does it not seem 

 a pity not to have included some Vertebrate with 

 a "big brain" if only to contrast it with the bee's, 

 which is on a different evolution tack altogether? 

 (c) It is probably beyond the reach of human 

 endeavour to write a text-book of zoology without 

 mistakes, and it is with a full and lively sense of our 

 own fallibility that we ask Prof. Hegner to justify 

 his statement that an anus is present in Ctenophora. 

 We are not very sure about the ccelom of Nemathel- 

 minthes either, but " morphology is not specially em- 

 phasised " in this book. Besides, what have first- 

 year students to do with ccEloms? (d) In looking up 

 the glossary to find what "evolution" meant, we 

 found it was "a theory of development" (see p. 291). 

 But this definition is obviously meant to be the counter- 

 part of that of epigenesis which is given a few lines 

 higher up, whereas p. 291 deals \vith evolution in the 

 ordinary sense. In a definition given of heredity — a 

 very doubtful one to our thinking— a reference is 

 given to a work in which the definition cited was 

 within inverted commas, and obviously not that of the 

 author of the book referred to. But excepting (a) 

 and (b) these are small blemishes in a work which 

 it has been a pleasure to read, and which deserves a 

 career of much usefulness. 



