740 



NATURE 



[August ii, 192 i 



Unhappily, one or two of the " Higher Critics " 

 have gone much too far with their textual criti- 

 cism, and honestly, but mistakenly, have invented 

 a new Old Testament of their own imagining, and 

 a very dull and uninspired thing at that. The 

 text of the real Book is often obscure, and not 

 seldom corrupt, so that it must be emended, but 

 not so much so as to be a sort of Bacon-Shake- 

 speare cryptogram which can be elucidated only 

 by methods strongly reminiscent of Mrs. Gallup ! 

 The " Higher Criticism " does not connote this 

 sort of fantasy ; what it really is Mr. Grubb shows 

 with both knowledge and skill. From his little 

 book the interested reader can see just how far 

 archaeological discovery has confirmed the general 

 historical character ojf the legendary and annalistic 

 books of the Old Testament, and he will be able 

 to realise what "textual criticism" means in the 

 case of Hebrew manuscripts ; the distinctions be- 

 tween the different schools of early Jewish re- 

 ligious writers that "wrote the Bible" — the 

 Jahvist ("J "), the Elohist ("E"), and the Priestly 

 (" P ") writers — wuU be made clear to him. He 

 will also be able to understand the fact of the 

 various "strata " of Isaiah, which can be printed, 

 if necessary, in different colours to distinguish 

 them. 



The Bible, treated scientifically and subjected to 

 the same criticism as any other collection of ancient 

 legends and poems, becomes extraordinarily in- 

 teresting. If the sacred books of a religion cannot 

 stand criticism, they are not worth much. The 

 " Book of Mormon " cannot stand criticism ; the 

 Holy Bible can and does. Literal truth at all 

 times and in all places is not the question. 

 Christianity does not stand or fall by the "verbal 

 inspiration" or literal "truth" of the Old Testa- 

 ment, but rests foursquare and secure on the teach- 

 ing of its Founder as given to us in the New. 

 He regarded the scriptures of His ancestors with 

 the same reverence that we do, who seek out and 

 study their origins and growth in order that we 

 may the better understand the bases of our faith 

 and so teach it ad majorem Dei gloriam. H. H. 



Zoology for Medical Students. 



An Introduction to Zoology. By Prof. C. H. 

 O'Donoghue. Pp. x + 501. (London: G. Bell 

 and Sons, Ltd., 1920.) 165. net. 



THE object of this volume is to provide a 

 text-book for the zoological portion of the 

 syllabus in biology for the first examination for 

 medical degrees of the University of London, and 

 for the first examination of the Conjoint Ex- 

 amining Board in England. 



For an introduction to zoology for medical 

 NO. 2702, VOL. 107] 



students, the subjects discussed, the degree of 

 fullness of treatment, and the order of their pre- 

 sentation are admirably suited. After a pre- 

 liminary chapter, the frog is first treated as an. 

 introduction to anatomy, physiology, and histo- 

 logy ; then follow accounts of two free-living and 

 two parasitic Protozoa — Amoeba and Paramcccium,. 

 Monocystis and the malaria parasite. A chapter 

 is given to Hydra and Obelia, and another to the 

 earthworm and Taenia, while the dogfish is treated 

 at length. An account of the rabbit takes uj> 

 nearly loo pages, and this section includes — aa 

 excellent addition — descriptions of the skull of the 

 dog, and of the brain and heart of the sheep. A 

 chapter on histology and cytology follows, which 

 deals mainly with cytology, including spermato- 

 genesis and oogenesis ; the section on embryology 

 introduces the early development of Amphioxus 

 and of the frog (which finds its place here instead 

 of in the earlier chapters) ; while the chick and 

 rabbit are treated more completely. A final chapter 

 is devoted to evolution, variation, and heredity. 



The present writer is convinced that such a» 

 course, beginning with a fairly full account of an 

 animal that goes on four legs, the internal 

 arrangements of which correspond in some degree 

 with what the beginner already knows of his own 

 body, and then working upwards from the Pro- 

 tozoa, is, as the author has found, the most satis- 

 factory from the point of view of both teacher 

 and student. The number of forms to be studied 

 must be sufficiently large to serve as a basis for 

 the wider appreciations and generalisations on the 

 comprehension of which the value of the course - 

 to the medical student depends. Medicine is, 

 applied biology, and if the student does not grasp 

 the fundamentals at this stage he will not do so* 

 from the specialised study of human anatomy and 

 physiology at a later period. At the same time,, 

 as the author implies, the multiplication of types 

 beyond what is strictly necessary to illustrate 

 fundamental principles is to be deprecated as in- 

 volving a study of unnecessary details. In the 

 present state of the medical curriculum there is no> 

 excuse for presenting the ordinary student with 

 a survey of the whole animal kingdom — a practice 

 that perhaps still survives in places. A complete 

 study of a few well-chosen forms, with similarly 

 thorough laboratory work on those forms, is 

 worth more for the purpose of giving an insight 

 into biological principles — and infinitely more as a 

 training in scientific method and thoroughness — 

 than skimming over all or most of the phyla oF 

 Invertebrates and the classes, or even orders, of 

 the Vertebrates. 



A few criticisms of details are necessary. The 

 account of the physiology of digestion is, quite 



