Z70 



NATURE 



[January 19, 191 1 



school garden, studies on insects of economic import- 

 ance, &c. The lessons are objective and practical, 

 and from the stores of trustworthy information which 

 they contain the teacher can select those topics most 

 applicable to the locality and conditions under which 

 he works. The volume is a plea for care and method, 

 and we can recommend it to those teachers who desire 

 to develop their work in this subject along sound lines. 

 There are 178 illustrations, for the most part good, 

 but several of those of insects might have been more 

 carefully executed. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



An Introduction to Biology for Students in India. By 

 Prof. R. E. Lloyd. Pp. xviii + 298+15 plates. 

 (London : Longmans, Green and Co., 1910.) Price 

 4 rupees (or 5^-. 4^.) 



This little book does not pretend to be a complete 

 introduction to biology, and the title is perhaps some- 

 what misleading-. It deals exclusively with certain 

 invertebrate types and certain generarprinciples, and 

 appears to have been designed for the use more 

 especially of Indian medical students. The author 

 tells us in his preface that the book was written some- 

 what hurriedly, because it was urgently needed. The 

 types dealt with have very properly been selected from 

 the Indian fauna, and the work is' evidently based very 

 largely upon personal observations, for which the 

 author deserves due credit. Some of the animals 

 described, such as the fresh-water sponge, the 

 scorpion, and the mosquito, are not usually dealt with 

 in elementary text-books. 



The work is of a strictly elementary character, but 

 at the same time suffers somewhat from being rather 

 too much up-to-date. Thus the chapter on heredity 

 is practically confined to Mendelism. The author is 

 not always happy in his definitions. He tells us 

 that "the anterior end of an animal is that at w-hich 

 the mouth opens; the posterior end is where the anus 

 is to be found. But difficulties sometimes arise in 

 using these terms; for example, in a gasteropod 

 mollusc, the mouth and anus open in the same direc- 

 tion." Surely it would be more correct to say that 

 primarily the anterior end is carried foremost when 

 the animal moves about, while the posterior end comes 

 hindmost. It is difficult to excuse the spelling of the 

 word " Foramenifera," and the statement that the 

 shells of these animals are "always perforated by 

 minute round apertures " is very misleading. Another 

 misspelling against which we must protest is "chord," 

 for "cord," in the case of the nerve-cord of Annelids. 

 This is a mistake which is frequently made bv elemen- 

 tary students, doubtless on the analogy of " noto- 

 chord," which, of course, is really a Greek word. 



It must not, however, be forgotten that this is a 

 pioneer work written under great disadvantages. It 

 shows a considerable amount of originality, both in 

 scope and treatment, and should prove useful to those 

 for whom it is intended. A. D. 



Botany for High Schools. By Prof. G. F. Atkinson. 



Pp. xv + 493. (New York : Henry Holt and Co., 



1910.) 

 When it is found that a school text-book of botany 

 of average size contains, in addition to a course of 

 morphology dealing with growth and work of parts of 

 the flowering plant, a series of life-histories drawn 

 from all the plant divisions and accessorv chapters 

 on ecology, economic plants and plant breeding, the 

 question naturally arises whether careful exposition 

 is not being sacrificed to variety. There are certainly 

 objections to the inclusion of the life-histories frorn 

 NO, 2151, VOL. 85] 



the lower cryptograms, as they are too sketchy to 

 suffice for practical work ; also the range and variation 

 are too complex for the ordinary schoolboy or girl, 

 while many teachers would prefer a good course of 

 physiology or a grounding in the classification of 

 vascular plants as an item in training. 



Nearly half the book is devoted to the first part, in 

 which the author presents a well-arranged account < 

 the activities of the plant. The morphology of tli 

 vegetative organs is not so well ordered, and there ai 

 several unsatisfactory passages, such as the confusio 

 between stem and shoot, unacceptable definitions ( 

 "decumbent" and parts of a leaf, and a misuse < 

 cambium in describing the stem of the maize plant. 

 The flowers, methods of pollination, and seed dispersal 

 are treated at some length. The later chapters 

 suffer from excess of generality or a tendency to 

 the introduction of specialised topics, but it should 

 be added that it is the author's intention to presei 

 outlines that are to be filled in by the teacher's lecturc- 

 and practical work. 



Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. New series. 

 Vol. X., 1909-10. Pp. 300. (London : Williams 

 and Norgate, 1910.) Price 105. 6d. net. 

 The Aristotelian Society exists for the systematic 

 study of philosophy, as to its historic development 

 and as to its methods and problems. It is an ari- 

 tocratic body — intellectually speaking — consisting c 

 about one hundred members, among whom are Mi 

 A. J. Balfour, Mr. Haldane, Prof. Sorley, Dr. Stout 

 Dr. Bernard Bosanquet, and Dr. Shadworth Hodgsor 

 In the latest volume of Proceedings there ar. 

 papers on " Sensations and Images," by Prof. Alex- 

 ander; "The Subject-matter of Psychology," by Mr. 

 G. E. Moore; " Epistemological Difficulties in Ps} 

 chology," by Dr. William Brown; "Kant's Account 1 

 Causation," by Mr. A. D. Lindsay; " Bergson - 

 Theory of Instinct," by Mr. H. Wildon Carr ; " Scienc 

 and Logic," by Mr. E. C. Childs ; " Some Philosophical 

 Implications of Mr. Bertrand Russell's Logical Theory 

 of Mathematics," by Mr. S. Waterlow; and two in- 

 teresting papers on "Are Secondary Qualities Inde- 

 pendent of Perception?" by Dr. Percy Nunn and Dr. 1 

 F. C. S. Schiller respectively. The former takes up .j 

 a position of vigorous realism, while the latter, with " 

 all his accustomed attractiveness of style — even when 

 dealing with very technical matter — hopes to convince 

 Dr. Nunn that philosophical salvation lies in human- 

 ism, for which, the old terms idealist and realist have 

 almost ceased to have meaning or interest. Dr. Nuni: 

 has a curious and rather novel argument in favour o! 

 there being possibly something really " there," in 

 some hallucinations. He instances our old friend the 

 "stick bent in a pool." To the eyes, it is bent, to 

 the touch it is straight ; in other words, its visual 

 characters are not in the same position as its tactual. 

 May we not therefore see a real thing which, to our 

 other senses, is elsewhere? It is certainly a sugges- 

 tive analogy, though risky. 



Hdusliche Blumenpflege. Eine Anleitung cur Pflcge 

 dcr dankbarsten Zimmer- und Balkon-Pflanzen. 

 By Paul F. F. Schulz. Pp. vii-l-216. (Leipzig: 

 Quelle and Meyer, n.d.) Price 1.80 marks. 

 According to the author plant culture in the home is || 

 not sufficiently practised in Germany, and the object ^ 

 of the present work is to arouse more interest in the 

 pursuit. Certainly if the plants for which instructions 

 are given can be grown in the house, many having 

 the time and taking a keen interest in flowers would 

 be inclined to try their skill. The list includes 

 Abutilon, Camellia, the Alpenrose, Bouvardia, Clivip, 

 Monstera deliciosa, and Odontoglossum grande, in 

 addition to the palms, geraniums, hydrangea, Cacta- 



