January 12, 191 1] 



NATURE 



Z^"^ 



first time. Since the first two volumes of the mono- 

 raph (pubHshed in 1901) have long been out of print, 

 f appearance of the present instalment is opportune, 

 d the tables for the determination of genera and 

 I'cies, with which it is copiously provided, will doubt- 

 's prove useful to many. The figures are clear and 

 -11 executed, and misprints are few. 

 The author's English, however, not infrequently 

 makes the sensitive reader shudder; for instance, the 

 first sentence of the book includes the words, " they 

 tabulate as follows," and this remarkable phrase, in 

 which " tabulate " is used as an intransitive verb, is 

 repeated again and again in the course of the volume. 

 As additional examples of faulty phraseology we may 

 quote : — " It probably comes in Myzotnyia " (p. 22) ; 

 !' it cannot be said as to what pictiis really is " (p. 25) ; 

 "A number of allied genera come around it and they 

 keep on increasing in number" (p. 151). More serious 

 than this is a flagrant error in terminology. Diptera, 

 as is well known, have a five-jointed tarsus, but Mr. 

 Theobald not only employs the objectionable, because 

 et}'mologically incorrect, term " metatarsus " for the 

 first joint of the tarsus, but calls the second and third 

 joints the " first and second tarsals," and so on ; this 

 is confusing as well as wrong, and would lead a 

 novice to suppose that in the CulicidjB the tarsus is 

 four-jointed. 

 With reference to the disseminator of yellow fever, 

 may be noted that the author has decided to retain 

 ihe name Stegomyia fasciata, Fabr., instead of re- 

 garding the specific designation as preoccupied and 

 substituting for it calopus, Mg., as is the practice in 

 the United States. On the ground of common sense 

 well as expediency, the course adopted in the British 

 luseum monograph, though not in accordance with 

 the accepted rules of zoological nomenclature, is un- 

 doubtedly the best. Mr. Theobald should not, how- 

 ever, perpetuate a slip made in his last volume, by 

 stating that "Villiers described a mosquito (1789) as 

 Culex fasciatus," the original author of the name in 

 question, which dates from 1764, being O. F. Miiller, 

 whose brief description, accompanied by a reference 

 to the work in which it appeared, was copied bv de 

 ^"illers (not Villiers) in 1789. 



PHILOSOPHY. 

 Philosophical Essays. By B. Russell, F.R.S. Pp. 

 vii+185. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 

 1910.) Price 65. net. 

 'X'HE subject-matter of Mr. Russell's book may be 

 -»- gathered from the titles of his chapters — "The 

 Elements of Ethics," "The Free Man's Worship," 

 The Study of Mathematics," "Pragmatism," 

 William James's Conception of Truth," "The Monis- 

 tic Theory of Truth," "On the Nature of Truth and 

 lalsehood." With the exception of the last, all are 

 jreprints, with some alterations, of articles which have 

 ■npeared in the Ne-M Quarterly, Hibbert Journal, In- 

 tendent Review, Albany Review, Edinburgh Review, 

 d Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. 

 In the first essay the author states his own deter- 

 ,mmist convictions, and points out that determinism 

 ;does not interfere with moraL, for, as a matter of 

 NO. 2150, VOL. 85I 



fact, people never do believe that anyone else's actions 

 are not determined by motives, however much they 

 may think themselves free. 



"If we really believed that other people's actions 

 did not have causes, we should never try to influence 

 other people's actions." "Most morality absolutely 

 depends upon the assumption that volitions have 

 causes." 



In the third essay there is a fine statement of the 

 " supreme beauty — a beauty cold and austere, like 

 that of sculpture," which the mathematician sees in 

 his subject ; also some good hints on teaching. But 

 the largest part of the book, and perhaps the most 

 interesting, is that in which the author combats tjie 

 new philosophy — or some aspects of it — which is 

 mainly represented by Dr. Schiller, now that its great 

 American protagonist is gone from among us, to the 

 regret of all students, whether disciples or philosophical 

 enemies. 



Mr. Russell is an empiricist, and therefore agrees 

 with pragmatism's readiness to treat all philosophical 

 tenets as working hypotheses only ; but he dissents 

 from its conception of the nature of truth. If utility 

 is to be a criterion of truth, it is not a useful criterion, 

 for it is usually harder to discover whether a belief is 

 useful than whether it is true (e.g. papal infallibility). 

 Therefore the pragmatist theory does not "work," and 

 the prag^matists are hoist with their own favourite 

 petard. As to the "will to believe," Prof. James 

 ignores the distinction between believing and enter- 

 taining an hypothesis. If a man comes to a fork in 

 the road, and does not know which branch to take, 

 it is a " forced option " from the point of view of 

 action, for he must take one of them if he is to arrive 

 at his destination. But his belief is not forced. He 

 neither believes nor disbelieves that he is on the right 

 road, until he finds out by asking somebody, or by 

 sign-posts, or from other sources of information. The 

 Will to Believe "assumes that if we do not completely 

 believe an hypothesis, we must either completely dis- 

 believe it or wholly suspend judgment." But the fact 

 is that all experiment, both in science and dailv life, 

 implies a state of mind which accepts neither alterna- 

 tive. Actions are based on probabilities. 



There is much further acute criticism, but the author 

 expresses his great respect and esteem for William 

 James, and his deep sense of the public and private 

 loss occasioned by his death. 



HEREDITY. 

 Heredity in the Light of Recent Research. By L. 

 Doncaster. (Cambridge Manuals of Science and 

 Literature.) Pp. x+140. (Cambridge: University 

 Press, 19 10.) Price is. net. 



MR. DONCASTER has performed a remarkable 

 feat in condensing into so small a space such 

 an admirable introduction to the study of heredity 

 in the light of recent research. He writes clearly, 

 without dogmatism, he treats fairly both the Mendelian 

 and the biometric schools, and shows excellent judg- 

 ment in what he includes and in what he omits. 



The book begins with a discussion on the nature 

 of heredity and variation, showing^ how the study of 

 one is bound up with that of the other, and how both 



