Nov. 14, 1878] 



NATURE 



29 



The approval of the Committee must have been easily 



.en if it extended to the following curious inquiry :— 



•'83. Iti the common horse-tail of our ditches every 

 internode of the stem seems to consist of two hollow 

 f\'^es, one inside the other. How do these differ from 

 wood and bark of plants more highly organised?" 



Another extract will show the catechetical method in 

 its most aggravated form. Imagine the children in some 

 small country school bitterly endeavouring to commit to 

 heart the following : — 



"261. Can you describe the flower of the fucJisia? 



" It is that of a Calycifloral Exogen, with a coloured 

 calvx valvate in aestivation, and consisting of four sepals. 

 The corolla is twisted, and consists of four petals. The 

 stamens are eight, in two rows, with long filaments. The 

 pistil is syncarpous, with an inferior ovary, a long style, 

 and a stigma of four lobes." 



It is fair, however, to say that some of the information 

 imparted by Jvlr. Gibbs is less indigestible. If the whole 

 catechism were as sensible as the following, it might be 

 actually usefiil : — 



"221. IVhat name do botanists give the cabbage f 



" Brassica oleracea. 



" 222. What do they call tJu cauliflower ? 



'* It is a variety of the same species. 



" 223. Is not the difference between them enough to make 

 them appear distinct species ? 



"It would be if they were not known to be derived from 

 a common origin. 



" 224. Then how came they to diffr so much f 



"They differ in consequence of cultivation having 

 increased the luxuriance of their growth; some plants 

 producing an abundance of large and succulent leaves, 

 and others an extraordinary number of flower buds. 

 Such plants have been selected by gardeners for many 

 generations, till they have resulted in the production of 

 distinct varieties. 



"225. How are these varieties perpetuated ? 



" The varieties of Brassica oleracea are perpetuated by- 

 seed which is taken from plants kept carefully apart from 

 other varieties of the same species, for if the pollen of one 

 variety happen to fall on the stigma of another, the seed 

 produced by that flower would give origin to plants inter- 

 mediate or uncertain in their character. Sometimes new 

 varieties appear in this way." 



But the catechetical method in its unrelieved drjTiess is 



J much even for the author. He preserves his gravity 

 with undeviating firmness till we come to the last question 

 and its answer, which deser\'e reproduction in the pages 

 of Nature as something absolutely unique in botanical 

 literatiu-e. 



'' 322. Describe a Daisy. 



" Of this little plant of the Composite order, 

 Bellis perennis is surely the name ; 

 A perennial herb in the garden's gay border, 

 To ornament which from the meadows it came. 



" Its roots of a good many fibres are growing 

 From under the sides of a prostrate rhizome ; 

 Which branches above, but is never found going 

 At any great length from the centre to roam. 



" Spathulate leaves in a rosulate cluster. 

 Every ramification surround ; 

 And in the middle about which they muster, 

 A simple peduncle is commonly found. 



" Are these the green leaves of a bud ? Let us waken 

 With knowledge and skill to examine the facts ; 

 And then shall not be for a calyx mistaken 

 A real involucre consisting of bracts. 



" For each of the ligulate florets composing 

 The circular ray is a separate bloom ; 

 And each little cup in the centre reposing. 

 For every part of a flower has room. 



" It seems that the cup of the calyx adhering 

 Unto an inferior ovary so. 

 Accounts for that innermost organ appearing 

 To be in the place where we find it below. 



" The corolla above it of tubular figure. 

 Coherent epigynous petals compose ; 

 As whoso describes it with technical rigour 

 By five little teeth on the edge of it knows. 



" The stamens are called syngenesious truly. 



Because of the fact that their anthers cohere ; 

 The style passes through them, and on it will duly 

 A couple of stigmatic branches appear. 



" WTien all this is done and the blooming is over ; 



When fruits monospermous are ripen' d and gone ; 

 They leave the receptacle nothing to cover 

 Its form which we find in the shape of a cone. 



" If now I have done my agreeable duty, 



I venture to hope I shall have better luck 

 Than the flower itself, which, because of its beauty. 

 Some ruthless examiner haply may pluck.'' 



T. D. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



A Manual of Anthropometry. By Charles Roberts,. 



F.R.C.S. (London : J. and A. ChurchiU, 1878.) 



The full title of this moderately-sized volume gives an 

 accurate account of its contents. It is " a guide to the 

 physical examination and measurement of the human 

 body, containing a systematic table of measurements, an 

 anthropometrical chart or register, and instructions for 

 making measurements on a imiform plan." 



The author's appetite for figures is marvellous, and 

 would be commendable, were it not too indiscriminate, 

 his tables having the air of being immense hotch-pot 

 collections, both in their titles and headings and in the 

 run of their results, which is more irregular than is^ 

 natural to the statistics of generically similar facts. The 

 author does not seem to recognise the importance of 

 what is really the main question to the statist, namely,, 

 how to obtain trustworthy results with a minimum of 

 effort. He seems to squander his efforts, the results he 

 obtains being very disproportionate to the labour be- 

 stowed in getting them. Thus in a chart, of which the 

 leading idea is very good, for recording measurements 

 at frequent intervals of different parts of the body of the 

 same growing person, he has places for the entrj' of the 

 measurement of more than sixty parts, a number alto- 

 gether too great to be dealt with satisfactorily in statistical 

 combination with similar measurements of other persons. 

 The theoretical part of the book is altogether loose and 

 unsatisfactory ; it is a mixture of imperfectly understood 

 Quetelet and water; Quetelet himself being somewhat 

 lax in theory and much too watery already. On the other 

 hand, the volume has many merits, and it is a pleasant 

 duty to notice them as much as it is a disagreeable one 

 to point out the defects in a work that aspires to set a 

 standard to which future statisticians should conform. 

 Thus the arrangement of the sample statistical tables is 

 very convenient in its main features, and to that extent 

 well worthy of imitation, though not as good as might be 

 in all its details. For instance it omits mention of any 

 measure of variability, such as the Probable Error. The 

 book includes a long and useful list of anthropometnc 

 works copied with important additions from the American 

 work of Dr. J. H. Baxter. The author is evidently most 

 zealous, and having himself measured and weighed 

 people by the hundred, he writes with the aplomb due to 



