July 22, 1897] 



NATURE 



269 



pit. It is curious that Mr. Borlase calls the Armoy skull 

 (P- 993) dolichocephalic with an index of 077 ; the limit 

 of dolichocephaly usually adopted is 075. 



After touching on nigrescence and other physical 

 features, Mr. Borlase concludes his work with a dis- 

 sertation on the Invasion Saga-group of the Irish manu- 

 script romances. It will be observed that he has 

 practically left the dolmens : but his thesis is that the 

 dolmens and all the other tangible remains of prehistoric 

 Ireland have nothing to do with the extant legends. 

 With singular ingenuity Mr. Borlase develops a two-fold 

 theory about these writings : first, that they are a bar- 

 baric version of the historical Volkswdnderung ; and, 

 secondly, that they are native to the south coast of the 

 Baltic, being only Irish in the sense of having become 

 naturalised there. Conaing's tower on Tory Island is 

 razed, to be rebuilt on Riigen ; and all the other sites 

 and scenes are transported in a manner equally cal- 

 culated to disturb the repose of the honoured ghosts of 

 Keating and the Four Masters. Clearly this novel 

 theory leaves all Irish remains unaccounted for by 

 divorcing from them the legends which, in some measure, 

 fit them with tolerable accuracy ; and transfers the 

 legends to a soil where there are neither tangible 

 remains, nor local folklore, with which they can be com- 

 pared. It would be easy to pick holes in some of Mr. 

 Borlase's etymologies, such as the suggested connection 

 between Partholan and the Lombards, which reminded 

 us of nothing so much as the schoolboy's correlation of 

 eel-pie with a pigeon : but space forbids our saying more 

 than that we do not believe the last word has yet been 

 said on the mystery of the Irish romances. 



We have read these three handsome volumes with 

 interest and pleasure, not unmixed with regret that a 

 little more judicious pruning was not employed in both 

 letterpress and illustrations. Many of the pictures of 

 dolmens might as well have been omitted, since in the 

 absence of plans they are useless.^ The money thus 

 saved would profitably have been e.xpended in improving 

 the quality of the remaining cuts, and in remunerating a 

 competent proof-reader. 



One more complaint in conclusion. Why does Mr. 

 Borlase — a scientific archaeologist— speak of the Clonmel 

 tragedy of two years ago as a witch-burning case ? 



R. A. Stewart Macalister. 



HUMAN EMBRYOLOGY. 

 Human Embryology. By Ch. S. Minot, Professor of 

 Histology and Human Embryology, Harvard Medical 

 School, Boston. Pp. xxiii -f- 815. Large 8vo. (New 

 York, 1892. English edition : Macmillan and Co., 

 Ltd., 1897.) 



T T is now five years since the publication of this work in 

 *- America, but it is not to be supposed that because the 

 science with which it deals has all the while been making 

 rapid progress, it is on that account to be regarded as 

 already out of date. For the nature of the book is of 

 such a character as to constitute it a permanent work 

 of reference in the subject ; in which respect, although 



1 A perspective sketch, or photograph, of any structure is of little or no 

 (generally no) value without a plan. We trust that all promoters of photo- 

 raphic surseys realise this. 



NO. 1447, VOL. 56] 



not in its scope and intention, it resembles closely th 

 comparative embryology of Francis Balfour. 



This is not the place to enter into a discussion of any 

 of the immense mass of details which Prof. Minot has 

 accumulated in his work, which he himself confesses to 

 have occupied ten years of his life, nor would the space 

 at my disposal enable me to do so, e.xcept in a most 

 inadequate manner. Suffice it to say that there is no 

 part of the subject which is not treated by the author 

 in the most complete manner possible within the limits 

 of a text-book. Beginning with an account of the 

 structure of the uterus in its varying functional conditions, 

 the history of the sexual elements, and a discussion of 

 theories of sex and heredity, the author attacks the main 

 subject of the work by an account of the segmentation 

 of the ovum and the formation of the germ layers. The 

 formation and destination of the primitive embryonic 

 organs, the origin of the blood and blood-vessels, of 

 the urogenital system, and of the archenteron are next 

 treated of, and then follows a most important section of 

 the work, in which the human embryo is dealt with as 

 a whole, and followed through all its known stages. 

 Accompanying this account is a complete and original 

 description of the appendages of the ovum and their 

 relation to the uterine wall. Finally the develop- 

 ment of each tissue and organ is separately dealt 

 with ; and not only the changes of form, but the 

 histogenesis of the organs also— a subject often left 

 untouched in text-books of embryology — are considered 

 in abundant detail. Each chapter— almost each page — 

 is a mine of information, so that the book will be an 

 essential companion of every one who may be working 

 at vertebrate embryology. For although the author has 

 not departed more than was possible from the scope of 

 his work as indicated by its title, there is so much that 

 is common in the development of all vertebrates that 

 much of our knowledge of human embryology is primarily 

 founded on facts observed in other mammals, and even 

 in lower vertebrates, and reference must necessarily be 

 constantly made to these. 



The subject is so big, that it is obviously impossible for 

 any one during a much longer period than ten years, and 

 even if he should be in possession of the needful material, to 

 attempt to give any account of it which shall be based upon 

 his own investigations. Short of this, however, he may 

 in many cases verify the statements of others ; and when 

 this does not prove possible, he may at least subject them 

 to so critical an examination as to lend an additional value 

 to them by reason of the stamp of his criticisms. These 

 two processes Prof. Minot has very fully carried out in 

 each subject which he has dealt with ; and when to this 

 statement it is added that some parts of the subject are 

 based wholly upon the author's investigations, it will be 

 seen that, exactly as with Balfour's book above referred 

 to, there is a colour of originality pervading the whole 

 work, which greatly tends to enhance its value. 



Prof. Minot obtained his training in embryology and 

 in the allied biological sciences mainly in German 

 schools, and he is naturally thoroughly imbued with 

 German methods of expression. This does not, however, 

 in my opinion, justify him in bodily transferring German 

 terms into the text of an English book without any 

 attempt to furnish either an English equivalent, or an 



