February i6, 191 i] 



NATURE 



501 



author's experiences in Korea are not the least in- 

 teres.tinfj part of the book. Korea proves a most 

 successful mission field in the East. The annual 

 native contribution to the missions is estimated at 

 25,000/. 



The quaint city of Seoul, under Japanese rule, leaves 

 no doubt in the minds of visitors of the thoroughness 

 of their governing methods as carried out in minute 

 detail. One of the most serious losses sustained by 

 the Koreans was the death of the wise Prince Ito, 

 their governor. It was discovered when the murderer 

 of the Prince was condemned to death that he was 

 writing a poem, and the Japanese judge with grim 

 humour, or Confucian regard for literature, granted 

 him ten days' grace in order that he might finish the 

 effusion. 



We must now leave the reader to follow the author 

 through Russian Turkestan, and in connection with 

 this part of the route he might consult Dr. Stein's 

 account of his recent exploration and wonderful dis- 

 coveries in the Turkestan desert, and Mr. Carruthers's 

 recent survey in the mountain region peopled by the 

 Kurghiz. The author's attractive sketches add to 

 the value of the book. J. T. 



VARI ABILITY IN 'LOWER" ORGANISMS. 

 Die Variabilitdt niederer Organismen. Eine deszen- 

 denztheoretische Studie. By Hans Pringsheim. 

 Pp. viii + 216. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 19 lo.) 

 Price 7 marks. 



T^HIS book is an attempt to analyse and correlate 

 -•• the known facts regarding variations in certain 

 so-called "lower" organisms. Among these, the 

 Bacteria occupy the chief place, although the Fungi — 

 especially the Saccharomycetes — and the Protozoa are 

 also considered to some extent. 



To anyone acquainted with the present state of the 

 literature of this subject, it is unnecessary to point 

 out the difficulties entailed in writing a book of this 

 sort : yet from the admirably clear and concise manner 

 in which the author has presented the facts, the 

 average reader will obtain but a very faint idea of the 

 large amount of patient labour which has been devoted 

 to the task. Perhaps no greater praise could be given 

 to a work of this sort — a work which is unique in 

 that it attempts to correlate the variability of uni- 

 cellular organisms with that of "higher" forms, and 

 thus to supply biological facts in place of the a priori 

 notions which are usually given regarding jthe 

 "lower" organisms when considered in relation to the 

 theory of organic evolution. 



.'\s a compilation of facts, the work leaves little to 

 be desired. The omissions are, for the most part, 

 unimportant. With the author's analysis and inter- 

 pretation of the facts, however, we by no means 

 always agree : but it is impossible to discuss these 

 properly in a few words, as almost every paragraph 

 in the analytical sections contains a significant idea. 

 By the admirable method which the author has 

 adopted of relegating the literature references and 

 details to a separate section — thus eliminating a large 

 mass of facts of great, but secondary, importance from 

 the main body of the text — a very clear and readable 

 NO. 2155, VOL. 85] 



statement of the facts and arguments has been 

 achieved. 



The author begins with a brief consideration of the 

 significance and causes of variability in general, and 

 of the herltability of variable characters. It may be 

 noted that the term mutation is rejected, and the 

 variations of " lower " organisms are designated 

 fluctuations, when they arise from internal causes, 

 and adaptions (sic) or accommodations, when they 

 are called forth by external influences. After some 

 discussion of the struggle for existence in " lower " 

 organisms, and oT the limits within which variations 

 occur, the author passes to an enumeration of the 

 observed facts regarding variations in these forms. 



As already noted, most of the facts are derived from 

 the Bacteria. They therefore relate chiefly to physio- 

 logical variations. The author describes variations in 

 colony formation, optimum growth temperature, 

 motility, spore formation, metabolism, ferment and 

 colour production, virulence, and a number of other 

 variable characters. Morphological variations — aris- 

 ing naturally, from innate and unknown causes, or 

 produced by temperature changes, poisons, &c. — are 

 also briefly considered : but pleomorphism is dismissed 

 in a few words, as the author regards it as a normal 

 event in the life-cycle of those forms which display 

 the phenomenon, and therefore properly to be 

 eliminated from a discussion of true variations. 



The author's general conclusions naturally consti- 

 tute the chief feature of interest in the book. He 

 believes "that all the observed cases of variability in 

 micro-organisms may be interpreted as fluctuating 

 variations " {i.e. arising from unknown and innate 

 causes) "and functional adaptations": and further, 

 that " there are heritable and non-heritable fluctuating 

 variations in micro-organisms, just as in highly 

 developed animals and plants." 



Finallv, the author considers the bearing of the 

 facts upon Weismann's view of the relation between 

 amphimixis and variability. From the recorded 

 observations on the variability of "lower" organisms, 

 he concludes that no reasonable grounds exist for 

 supposing that amphimixis causes increased variability 

 in the organisms possessing it, because a high degree 

 of variability is found in non-sexual "lower" organ- 

 isms which multiply by simple fission. 



*' One of the chief advantages of amphimictic re- 

 production is the exclusion of the inheritance of 

 acquired characters and the enforced equalisation of 

 the variable characteristics of special individuals." 



A detailed criticism of this important work is not 

 possible in the short space allotted to the present 

 review. We would point out, however, that our chief 

 personal criticism concerns the author's point of view 

 — implied in the title of the book, and impressing 

 itself upon all the author's biological ideas. We do 

 not regard the so-called " lower " organisms as beings 

 which are nearer the beginnings of life than the so- 

 called "higher" forms. The Protista — even the Bac- 

 teria — display considerable morphological differentia- 

 tion, and a physiological complexity which is not 

 " low " in any sense. We believe that a much pro- 

 founder analysis of fundamentals is required than that 

 given in this book. It is also our opinion that the 



