200 



NA TURE 



[August i i, 1923 



and her interesting descriptions in the text of his 

 principal philanthropic schemes supply further details. 

 His own ideas of how to dispose of " a balance at the 

 bank in excess of what is necessary " are given in 

 Chapter XX., " The Convalescent Home," and are 

 commended to readers, who will afterwards under- 

 stand more readily the unique reasons for Sir Alfred's 

 many generous benefactions during his lifetime. 



Lady Yarrow has evidently compiled her work under 

 some restraint, as more could be told both of Sir Alfred's 

 professional success, and of his bounty, and his methods 

 of encouraging others (for example, his recent munificent 

 gift to the Royal Society is not mentioned in this 

 book), but she has told enough to warrant Sir Alfred's 

 claim that " his business life has been filled with 

 sentiment and friendship." She is to be congratulated 

 on the scheme, sequence, and style of the compilation, 

 and she can be assured that her work will be highly 

 appreciated by the very large circle of Sir Alfred's 

 friends. G. G. Goodwin. 



Our Bookshelf. 



Grundriss der allgemeinen Zoologie Jiir Studierende. Von 

 Dr. Alfred Kijhn. Pp. viii + 212. (Leipzig: Georg 

 Thieme, 1922.) 



This is a wholly admirable text-book. We know of no 

 book in the English language exactly like it, none that 

 attempts so much within so limited a space, and, 

 moreover, attempts it so successfully, with a due 

 regard to the requirements of those for whom it is 

 written and to the maintenance of a proper balance 

 between the various parts of the subject. The book is 

 divided into three approximately equal parts, the first 

 giving a rapid survey of the morphology of each 

 phylum of the animal kingdom, the second an account 

 of the physiology of animals, and the third a review of 

 the main principles of embryology and the problems 

 of variation, heredity, sex, and evolution. The book 

 concludes with a short bibliography of more advanced 

 text-books and original memoirs to which the student 

 can turn for more detailed information on any point. 



In attempting to treat of the whole of the animal 

 kingdom in 70 pages, the author may be thought to have 

 essayed an impossible task. By confining himself to 

 the broad and general characters of each phylum, 

 without entering into details of any one type, however, 

 and aided by an excellent series of diagrammatic 

 figures, he has succeeded in giving an admirably clear 

 account of each phylum. The book is intended for 

 medical students, and, consequently, special emphasis 

 is laid on parasitic forms throughout, without, however, 

 overburdening the book in this way or losing the 

 general perspective of the whole. The illustrations 

 have been mainly drawn specially for this book. They 

 are, in the majority of cases, schematic drawings, very 

 clearly reproduced and excellently chosen for the 

 purpose, and would make good wall diagrams for lecture 

 purposes. 



The point which most impresses us in this book is the 

 excellent balance which the author has kept between 



NO. 2806, VOL. 112] 



the three broad divisions of zoology — morph 

 physiology, and embryology — with its kindred proi 

 The general course given to first-year medical students 

 is apt to be weighted too much on the morphological 

 side ; physiology is generally neglected, and ver\- little 

 consideration is given to the fundamental and genenO 

 problems of zoology. We feel sure that a course on tl 

 lines so admirably sketched by Prof. Kiihn would gi\c 

 the medical student a broader outlook on zoological 

 subjects, would interest him more for its own sake, and 

 would make abundantly clear to him the fundamental 

 bearing of his zoology course on his future life's work. 

 He would no longer regard zoology as a subject put 

 into his curriculum for his ultimate confusion, to be got 

 through with the minimum amount of work in the 

 minimum time. With a little amplification, 1> 

 Kiihn's book would serve as a basis for subsidiarv on. 

 year courses in zoology for science students. 



Our Solar System and the Stellar Universe : Ten Populu 

 Lectures. By the Rev. Charles Whyte. Pp. xi 

 234 + 18 plates. (London : C. Griffin and Co., Ltd 

 1923.) 105. 6d. net. 



The ten lectures which form the basis of this volun 

 were delivered as the Thomson Lectures for the session 

 1919-1920 in connexion with the United Free Church 

 College, Aberdeen. They provide a survey — fairly uj 

 to-date and in general accurate — of the present sta* 

 of astronomical knowledge, in a form suitable for tl. 

 non-scientific reader, so far as it is possible to do - 

 without the introduction of mathematics or of math( 

 matical reasoning. 



There are a few errors to which attention ma)' be 

 directed. The statement on p. 27 that " the theory 

 now generally accepted as being the chief cause in the 

 maintenance of the sun's heat, is that advanced by 

 Helmholtz in 1853," is not correct. It is well known 

 that this theory is not in accord with geological facts. 

 Again, on p. 60, it is stated that a temperature of 

 750° F. at the surface of a planet corresponds to an 

 intensity of the rays of the midsummer sun multiplied 

 by 9. This is, of course, a fallacy. The rotation 

 period of Mercury is not known with certainty, though 

 from p. 61 the contrary would be inferred. It is cer- 

 tainly exceeding the limits of scientific truth to say, a 

 on p. 151, that " we have ever}' reason to believe tha 

 a number of planetary bodies, many of them exceeding 

 in size our own solar satellites, travel round these suns 

 in swift motion over enormous circumferences," while 

 on p. 164 the sentence, " They (the Cepheids) are 

 situated from us at enormously greater distances than 

 those which up to now have been measured," requires 

 modification. In dealing with the Martian cana]>. 

 their possible subjective nature might have been men- 

 tioned. The detailed elementary calculations on pp. 

 61-2, 87-8 might have been omitted with advantage. 



The book is well produced, with good paper and clear 

 type. The plates have been carefully selected, and it 

 is a pleasure to see them reproduced on well-glazed 

 paper. Too frequently astronomical photographs \o>' 

 much of their value when reproduced in popular work>. 

 through the use of inferior paper. The book can be 

 recommended as one which will provide much interesting 

 reading to those who, though without scientific training-, 

 are interested in astronomy. H. S. J. 



