Jan. 30, 1879] 



NATURE 



287 



these are perfect the question can be settled. It is not 

 denied that hermetically sealed flasks give complete 

 isolation, the only question remaining being, to secure 

 complete destruction of whatever organisms, with their 

 germs, may be within the flasks at the commencement of 

 the experiment. He refers to Dr. Bastian's experiments 

 on the death-point of minute organisms and their germs, 

 which was invariably found to be 158^ F., and he points 

 out no fallacy in these experiments. Yet if they are 

 conclusive, Dr. Bastian's numerous other experiment?, 

 confirmed as they are by Dr. Burdon-Sanderson and 

 others, demonstrate the production of living organisms 

 from dead matter. The elaborate experiments of Prof. 

 Tyndall are referred to as gi\"ing results directly opposed 

 to those of Dr. Bastian ; but it is not sufficiently pointed 

 out, — firstly, that in Dr. Tj-ndall's experiments "isola- 

 tion" was not effected in the only perfect manner by 

 hermetical sealing, and that many contradictory results 

 hence ensued; — and secondly, that all the results op- 

 posed to those of Dr. Bastian were negative, and could 

 therefore not disprove the latter's positive results. Dr. 

 Bastian in his test experiments did not use "old 

 hay," the germs in which are said to be "indurated,"' 

 but infusions of turnip and cress, and after these 

 were subjected in sealed flasks to temperatures of 

 270° F., and to 230" F. for upv.-ards of an hour, they pro- 

 duced living organisms of such varied types as bacteria, 

 torula, protamabcE, and monads. {" Evolution and Origin 

 of Life,'' p. 175-180.) As similar organisms and their 

 germs, produced in sifnilar infusions have been proved to 

 be killed by a temperature at least 100° lower than that em- 

 ployed in the above experiment, what we require to settle the 

 question is, not thousands of quite different experiments? 

 whose results one way or the other cannot settle the 

 point at issue, but a repetition of the same experiments by 

 other observers with the object of detecting the fallacy, if 

 any, that lurks in them. 



The only other article we can here refer to, is that on 

 " The Law of Likeness and its Working,"' which deals with 

 the question of heredity, and Mr. Darsvin's theory of 

 Pangenesis. But no notice is taken of Mr. Francis 

 Galton's very important "Theory of Heredity," published in 



he Journal of tfie Anthropological Instit2iie,\Q\. v. p. 329 ; 

 which, though it may be considered as a mere modifica- 

 tion of that of Mr. Darwin, really differs from it in many 

 important points, and affords a more complete and satis- 

 factory explanation of many of the most curious facts ; such 

 as the unlikeness of children to their parents, the appear- 

 ance of diseases and even of mental qualities, in alternate 

 generations, and many others. Every one wishing to 

 comprehend this most difficult yet most interesting subject, 

 should study Mr. Galton's paper as a necessary supple- 

 ment to the theory of Pangenesis. 



At p. 70 of Dr. Wilson's book, a letter from the 



Times is quoted, describing the formation of the bees' 

 cell, as due entirely to the pressure of opposing bees in 

 adjacent cells. This is not strictly correct ; and Mr. Dar- 

 win's obsen^ations should have been refered to, showing 

 that the cell- walls are first built verj' thick, and dirtgnaived 

 down to the requisite thinness. There is also some 

 obscurity in the suggested explanation of the " apparent 

 movement " of the crocodile's upper jaw, when it opens its 

 mouth. The fact appears to be that the crocodile, opening 



its mouth when on land, must raise its upper jaw and head 

 (by bending the neck) simply because the lower jaw has 

 not room to move downwards. The movement of the 

 upper jaw is therefore, under these circumstances, real, 

 and not only "apparent" as stated. One of the most 

 interesting chapters is that on "Animals and their Environ- 

 ments," in which an account is given of the curious changes 

 during the growth of flat fishes, and the still more remark- 

 able phenomena which have been recently observed in 

 the metamorphoses of the axolotl, and the alpine sala- 

 mander. A. R. W. 



Ol/H BOOK SHELF 



An American Geological Railway Guide, giviti^ the 

 Geological Formation at every Railway Station; with 

 Notes on interesting Places on the Routes, and a De- 

 scription of each of the Formations. By James Mac- 

 farlane, Ph.D. (New York : Appleton and Co., 1879,) 



Dr. Macfarlaxe has added a new pleasure to railway 

 travelling, or rather, by means of this geological guide- 

 book, he has done much to make it both enjoyable and 

 instructive. The idea of the book is excellent, and the 

 plan seems to us thoroughly satisfactorj'. Now that we 

 have this manageable little flexible book before va, it 

 seems strange that such a guide has not been thought of 

 before, but perhaps not so strange that our enterprising 

 friends on the other side should set an example to their 

 Old- World brethren. We believe the prospectus of some 

 such guide was issued in this countr>' several months ago; 

 if so, we recommend its compilers to obtain a copy of Dr. 

 Macfarlane's book, and take several leaves out of it. If 

 no such work is being prepared for the forlorn traveller of 

 our islands, we advise some of our Survey-men to iay 

 their knowledge together, and produce a similar guide as 

 speedily as possible ; they wll be doing a public service, 

 and if the result is as satisfactory as in the case of the 

 book before us, they will, we feel confident, reap some- 

 thing more substantial than thanks. In compilmg r.is 

 tables. Dr. Macfarlane has had the assistance of lOme 

 of the most eminent geologists in the States, and some of 

 the information has not before been published. The 

 tables are very similar to railway time-tables, havinj on 

 the left hand side of the names of the stations, the miles 

 between each, and on the right, instead of the times, the 

 names of the leading formation to be seen along the route. 

 The tables are so constructed as to be useful for a con- 

 tinuous journey through the States in any direction, and,., 

 at the same time, to give an idea of the leading geological 

 characteristics of each state. Appended is an index to 

 railroads, and a general geological map of the States. 

 Prefixed are about fifty pages of instructive information, 

 consisting mainly of methodical descriptions of the 

 various formations of North America, and containing 

 Dana's and Hunt's tables of formations. By carefully 

 studying this the traveller will be in a fair position to 

 profit by the tables, and by the faithful use of these much 

 practical knowledge of geology may be acquired even by 

 the ignorant, while to the geologist they wiU be a constant 

 source of enjoyment ; the handy volume is much more 

 easily managed than a map. We may state that the 

 tables refer to Canada as well as the States. 



Comment le font les Miracles en deJiors de PE^lise. 

 W^ilfrid de Fonvielle. (Paris : Dreyfous.) 



Why does not M. Dreyfous date his books? We are 

 sure M. de Fonvielle cannot have noticed the suspicious 

 omission. M. de Fonvielle is already pretty well known 

 in France as a popular gossiper on what may be called 

 the eccentricities of science. The present volume is quite 

 equal in interest to anything he has published, and is 

 likely, we should think, to be widely read in France. It 



