April 27, 1893] 



NATURE 



60 = 



up with these plausible suggestions are such things as 

 hypothetical whirls of ether within the solar system 

 that seem, to say the least of them, to require some 

 •elucidation as to how comets go through them in every 

 sort of direction without any sensible action of the 

 ■whirl on the comet. 



A person who has brought forth, after enormous labour 

 of thought, a series of theorems concerning the universe, 

 and who is not very familiar with the equally carefully 

 thought-out suggestions of others naturally looks with 

 more favour upon his own children than upon those of 

 others; but, if he is reasonable, and in a reasonable 

 mood, he will not be surprised nor even distressed, be- 

 cause those who look at all these children with critical 

 eyes see very serious defects in all of them, and feel 

 very confident that without great changes no one of them 

 can possibly grow into a second Newton. 



VERTEBRATE BIOLOGY. 

 Text-book of Biology. By H. G. Wells, B.Sc. Lond., 

 F.Z.S. With an Introduction by G. B. Howes, F.L.S., 

 F.Z.S., Assistant Professor of Zoology, Royal College 

 of Science, London. Part I. Vertebrata. (London: W. 

 B. Clive and Co., University Correspondence College 

 Press.) 



MR. WELLS'S book is avowedly written mainly for 

 the purpose of helping solitary workers to pass the 

 Intermediate Science examination of the University of 

 London, and it would therefore be unfair to criticise it 

 from a wider point of view. The scope for originality in 

 such a work is naturally somewhat limited, but it is a 

 pleasant surprise to come across one which is far above 

 the average as regards soundness of treatment and method. 

 The author not only possesses a practical knowledge 

 of the greater part of the subject he deals with, but also 

 evidently takes pleasure in it for its own sake, and has a 

 healthy dislike of " that chaotic and breathless cramming 

 of terms misunderstood, tabulated statements, formu- 

 lated ' tips,' and lists of names, in which so many students, 

 in spite of advice, waste their youth." He states that 

 " the marked proclivity of the average schoolmaster for 

 mere book-work has put such a stamp on study that, in 

 nine cases out of ten, a student, unless he is expressly 

 instructed to the contrary, will go to the tortuous, and 

 possibly inexact, description of a book for a knowledge 

 of things that lie at his very finger-tips " (p. 31) ; and 

 again, on p. 125, that "it is seeing and thinking much 

 more than reading, which will enable " the student " to 

 clothe the bare terms and phrases of embryology with 

 coherent knowledge." Throughout the book the import- 

 ance of actual observation is insisted upon. 



The present part deals with the Rabbit, Frog, Dog-fish, 

 and Amphioxus, and includes an account of the develop- 

 ment of these animals and of the theory of evolution, as 

 well as a number of questions, most of which have been 

 set at the examinations of the London University. The 

 morphological portions are, on the whole good and 

 clearly written, and a fair amount of physiology is also 

 introduced. A syllabus of practical work is given at the 

 end : this would in many respects bear amplifying. The 

 student is not warned that his time will be wasted if he 

 wanders off the direct path of the examination syllabus ; 

 NO. T226. VOL. 47] 



and on the contrary, points of general biological interest 

 are referred to here and there, and these go far to show 

 what a good many of our elementary text-books do not 

 — viz. that the London University syllabus, "as at present 

 constituted," affords "considerable scope for efficient 

 biological study." The student, moreover, is told that 

 this "little book is the merest beginning in zoology," and 

 the last paragraph, on p. 131, indicates the aspect of 

 mind with which the author regards his subject. 



Twenty-four folding sheets of sketches are inserted in 

 the text, but the figures are, on the whole, exceedingly 

 rough ; and though many of them may be found useful 

 as guides, we feel that the student would do better to 

 postpone drawing until his dissections are made, or even 

 copy some of the numerous good figures to be found 

 elsewhere, than to "copy and recopy" these sketches 

 first, as advised by the author. 



Numerous inaccuracies and awkward expressions 

 occur, only a few of which can be here mentioned. The 

 terms superior and inferior, as applied to the great veins, 

 are likely to confuse a beginner after reading the defini- 

 tion of the regions of the body given on p. 3. " Meta- 

 bolism " [and " metaboly " occur even in consecutive 

 sentences on p. 23. Peristaltic movement is said to move 

 the food " forward " (p. 41). It is stated that the thyroid 

 is similar in structure to the thymus and to " botryoidal 

 tissue " in general (p. 26), and that the epithelium of the 

 villi, with its striated border, " is usually spoken of as 

 leading towards "ciliated" epithelium (p. 22). It is mis- 

 leading to say that " a tarsus (tarsalia) equals thecarpus," 

 and that the vomer of the dog is paired (pp. 38 and 76). 

 As the term " Chordata" is adopted on p. 96, it is un- 

 fortunate that the student is told on p. 60 that vertebrata 

 occur in which cartilage is absent, and that Amphioxus 

 possesses the " essential vertebrate features," is " twisted, 

 as it were," and that its "vertebral column is de- 

 void of vertebrae : " it is, moreover, inadvisable 

 to use the term "hyoidean" with regard to this 

 animal. On p. 61 "classes" and "orders" are 

 used in a correct and an incorrect sense in the same 

 sentence. The expression, "carotid gland" requires 

 a better explanation on p. 67. The morphology of 

 the cardinals, azygos, and post-caval is incompletely 

 explained (pp. 87, 120, and 124). Several serious mis- 

 takes are made with regard to the homologies of the 

 urinogenital apparatus (t/., e.g. pp. 92 and 114). Mis- 

 prints are also fairly abundant throughout. 



Most of these faults are, however, such as can be 

 remedied in a future edition, and the book will, we think, 

 serve the purpose for which it was written very 

 satisfactorily. W. N. P. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Pflansenleben. Von Anton Kerner von Marilaun. Band II. 



Geschichte der Pflanzen. (Leipzig und Wien : Bib- 



liographisches Institut.) 

 The first volume of this excellent book was reviewed in 

 Nature, vol. xxxix. p. 507. The present volume, which 

 completes the work, treats of the " history of plants," by 

 which is meant their development, in the widest sense, 

 including both ontogeny and phylogeny. The former 

 subject (" origin of descendants ") occupies the first 

 480 pages, while the remainder is devoted to the " history 

 of species." 



