404 



NATURE 



[January 26, 191 1 



Kant and His Philosophical Revolution. By Prof. 



R. M. VVenley. Pp. ix + 302. (Edinburgh: T. and 



T. Clark, 1910.) Price 35. 

 In a letter to Stiigemann, in 1797, Kant made a 

 seemingly arrogant remark. He said : " I have come 

 with my writings a century too soon ; after a hundred 

 years people will begin to understand me rightly, and 

 will then study my books anew, and appreciate them." 

 And indeed the estimate and the prophecy were sup- 

 ported by the most brilliant historian of modern 

 philosophy, and by the writer of the best book on 

 Kant in our tongue — by Kuno Fischer and Edward 

 Caird, namely. 



The prophecy no doubt refers to the " Critiques," 

 but Kant's contributions to science are important 

 also. The "Cosmogony" — admirably translated by 

 Hastie — is an astonishing book. It forecasts the con- 

 ception of evolution, and its scheme is adjustable to 

 all discoveries since made. " Law replaced Lucretian 

 chance, simplicity expelled Cartesian involution, 

 mechanism dispersed the clouds of mysticism raised 

 by Malebranche." Herschel and Laplace were anti- 

 cipated, and their very errors avoided with marvellous 

 intuition. Where Kant made mistakes, it was inevit- 

 able, often owing to lack of mathematical resources, 

 as in his calculation (for the first time) of Saturrf's 

 diurnal period. 



In metaphysics, Kant's fame is, of course, that of 

 a destroyer. He demolished the various famous 

 "proofs" of God, freedom, and immortalitv. So far 

 as reason goes, the analysis of the first and most 

 famous "Critique" compels an agnostic attitude, and 

 "man is thrust back powerless in face of his own 

 most characteristic expressions and need." In the 

 later works, they are justified as postulates or neces- 

 sary hypotheses of the practical reason, giving occa- 

 sion to Heine's famous sneer. 



Prof. Wenley gives an excellent sketch of the con- 

 dition of Germany in Kant's time, both intellectual 

 and materia], and his careful bibliography will be of 

 use to many students. The style is popular and lucid 

 - — a difficult thing to manage in an exposition of a 

 writer who uses such terrible terminology as we find 

 in the "Critique of Pure Reason." 

 Plant Life in Alpine Sivitzerland, being an Account in 



Simple Language of the Natural History of Alpine 



Plants. By E. A. Newell Arber. Pp. xxiv + 355 + 



xlviii plates. (London : J. Murray, 1910.) Price 



7s. 6d. net. 

 It is exceedingly true, as the author remarks, that a 

 large number of visitors to Switzerland are aroused 

 to great enthusiasm by the masses, brilliant colouring, 

 and variety of the Alpine flowers. Whether their 

 enthusiasm is sufficiently deep to induce biological 

 inquiry and observation in many cases is doubtful, 

 but the author is likely to be quite content if only a 

 small proportion is led to take an intelligent interest 

 in the information which he has set out with evident 

 care and admirable clearness. Also, it may be ex- 

 pected that not a few botanists will be glad to avail 

 themselves of the author's introduction to Schroeter's, 

 Christ's, and Bonnier's studies. 



The details are marshalled under genera, while the 

 genera are arranged according to habitat, so that the 

 chapters treat of alpine pastures, meadows, marshes, 

 forests, and the ihigh alpine region. Biological 

 features provide the chief themes, among which may 

 be noted pollination, structural modifications, colour 

 and colour variation discussed in connection 

 with the gentians, fruit of the anemones and 

 Geum and contractile roots of Veratrum ; cushion, 

 carpet, and rosette plants are dealt with in the chapter 

 devoted to the high alpines, although it is intimated 

 that rosette plants are quite as numerous in lower 

 alpine localities. A very large number of genera are 

 NO. 21^2, VOL. 85] 



included ; of these, the willows, Scilix reticulata and 

 Salix herbacea, would generally escape notice, while 

 the Papilionatae and louseworts would attract more 

 attention than they receive here. In the last chapter 

 the author presents an interesting sketch of modern 

 hypotheses regarding the origin of the Swiss alpine 

 ilora. A glossary and an introductory account of floral 

 structure are supplied in the appendices ; these should 

 render the book intelligible to readers who have had 

 no botanical training, as the author's style is simple 

 and explicit. Finally, a word of commendation should 

 be accorded to the excellent illustrations and the 

 useful diagrams, the latter prepared by Mrs. Arber. 



Index to Desor's Synopsis des Echinides Fossiles, 

 By Dr. F. A. Bather, F.R.S. Pp. 46. (London : 

 The Author, at "Fabo," Marryat Road, Wimble- 

 don, 1910.) 

 By the publication of this index Dr. Bather has sup- 

 plied a long-felt want and has done a valuable service 

 to all students of living and fossil echinoids. Need- 

 less to say, he has carried out his important task 

 with great care and thoroughness. The scheme 

 adopted for the main part of the work is that which 

 is employed by Mr. C. D. Sherborn in his well-known 

 "Index Animalium " ; that is to say, the first part 

 of the index contains all generic and trivial names 

 alphabetically arranged, while the second part sets 

 forth the generic names, each one followed by an 

 alphabetical list of all the trivial names which have 

 been associated with it in the " Synopsis." Certain 

 pages of Desor's work appeared in more than one 

 issue and on varying dates, and d«e regard has been 

 paid to these irregularities by a quotation of actual 

 dates immediately following the page references in 

 question in both parts of the index. Another impor- 

 tant feature is the indexing of the plates, on which 

 appeared some names that are not to be found in the 

 text. 



Systematic workers have always experienced much 

 difficulty in ascertaining the dates of issue of the 

 various fasciculi of the " Synopsis," and of the re- 

 issue of cancelled and revised pages, and it is therefore 

 a matter for great satisfaction that the author has 

 been able to include in this index a note on the dates 

 of publication, contributed by such a high authority 

 as Mr. Jules Lambert. It so often hanoens that 

 nomenclatural accuracy is dependent on bibliographical 

 precision that a special value attaches to Mr. Lam- 

 bert's note and to an exhaustive collation, supplied 

 by Dr. Bather, which immediately follows it. 



Man's Redemption of Man. By Prof. W. Osier, 

 F.R.S. Pp. 60. (London : Constable afid Co., 

 1910.) Price IS. net. 

 An address delivered by Prof. Osier to students of 

 the University of Edinburgh in July last is here pre- 

 sented to a wider public. The message is that of the 

 gospel of science. By observation and thinking, the 

 Greek philosophers grasped great principles and 

 arrived at brilliant generalisations, but not until the 

 secrets of nature were searched out by experiment did 

 the scientific redemption of man begin. The mastery 

 "Of Earth and Water, .\ir and Fire," is to be obtained 

 by following the experimental method; and through 

 it the conquest of disease and suffering may be_ con- 

 fidently anticipated. Unnecessary pain was banished 

 by the introduction of anaesthetics, Listerian surgery 

 has revolutionised the treatment of wounds, while 

 cholera, yellov^' fever, malarial fevers, and other 

 epidemic diseases have been brought under control. 

 Tuberculosis has yet to be stamped out, and the 

 campaig-n must be carried on until it is in the same 

 categorv with typhus fever, typhoid, and smallpox. _ 



The occasion' on which Prof. Osier delivered his 

 lay sermon was the Edinburgh meeting of the 



