}04 



NATURE 



[June 14, 191 7 



as his opinion, after inspecting- the dyeing- schools 

 in Germany, Austria, and the United States, that 

 they are not to be compared, as regards equip- 

 ment or efficiency, with the schools at Manches- 

 ter, Bradford, and Leeds. This is true enough, 

 but is not generally recognised. 



With regard to trade research, it is pointed out 

 that the amount actually carried on must not be 

 gauged by publications in technical journals. The 

 most valuable results obtained are, of course, 

 used by individual firms, and it is only gradually 

 that they become known and find a place in the 

 literature. This is no argument against the 

 many schemes of research initiated by industries 

 as a whole. It is often stated that information 

 which is the common property of an industry is 

 of no special valjie to an individual firm ; but this 

 is a fallacy, as it is in applying new information 

 in particular directions that individual enterprise, 

 skill, or special facilities have full scope. 



The new edition of the book has been largely 

 rewritten throughout, with great advantage. The 

 concluding- section deals with the future prospects 

 of the dye-manufacturing industries in Britain, 

 France, and the United States. W. M. G. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 

 An Introduction to a Biology, and Other Papers. 

 By A. D. Darbishire. Pp. xviii + 291. (Lon- 

 don: Cassell and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 

 75. 6d. net. 

 Since the advent of natural selection the 

 mechanistic interpretation of Nature has on the 

 whole steadily gained ground among- biologists. 

 The trend has been more and more towards the 

 translation of vital phenomena in terms of 

 physics and chemistry. Much of modern investi- 

 gation, such as the discovery of artificial 

 parthenogenesis or the establishing of the 

 Mendelian principles among the phenomena of 

 heredity, has undoubtedly strengthened the 

 mechanistic position. Yet to all action succeeds 

 reaction. To-day there is an evident tendency 

 in many quarters to cast on one side the 

 mechanistic interpreter and seek out other 

 prophets. The note sounded thirty years ago by 

 the acute apd critical intellect of Samuel Butler 

 is finding echoes among biological workers. 

 Such a one was the author of this book. The 

 "Introduction to a Biolog-y " was designed, we 

 are told, to direct attention to the failure of 

 modern interpretative biology and to sugg-est 

 the direction in which an understanding- of life 

 may be sought. Unhappily the work is but a 

 fragment cut short by the author's premature 

 death. 



The principal theme is that the intelligence of 

 man is of utilitarian origin, developing g-radually 

 as he gradually acquired more and more control 

 over his material surroundings. Hence the cir- 

 cumstances of its development have led to man's 

 welcoming a mechanistic theory of the orgfanism 

 and a materialistic theory of evolution to the 

 neglect of other points of view. The influence 

 of Bergson is clearly m.arked not only in the 



NO. 2485, VOL. 99] 



thesis, but in the generous use of entertaining^ 

 analogy. 



The essay, however unconvincing, is brightly 

 written, for the author had a style of candid 

 freshness and a gift of investing even trivial 

 things with humorous interest. The charm of 

 his personality is well brought out in the brief 

 biographical sketch by his sister, upon whom fell 

 the labour of piecing tog-ether what he left 

 behind. It should be added that the greater part 

 of the book consists of Darbishire 's papers re- 

 printed from various sources. 



The Secretion of the Urine. By Prof. A. R. 



Cushny. ("Monographs on Physiology.") Pp. 



xi + 241. (London: Longmans, Green, and 



Co., 1917.) Price 95. net. 

 In this extremely valuable monograph Prof. 

 Cushny gives an admirable account of the kidney, 

 and discusses the various views held as to its 

 functions. Many other matters, such as the 

 action of drugs upon it and the changes that 

 occur in disease, are included, and the biblio- 

 graphy appended is of a most complete kind. 

 The centre of interest in the book, however, is 

 the presentation of the author's own views on 

 the theory of kidney activity. The main theories 

 discussed are naturally those associated with the 

 historic names of Bowman and Ludwig. Bow- 

 man's view, with modifications introduced by 

 Heidenhain and others, is at the present time the 

 one most favoured by the majority of physiolo- 

 gists; Prof. Cushny's view, which he terms 

 the "modern view," is a modified Ludwig- 

 hypothesis : secretion (a pure filtration) occurs 

 at the glomerulus, and this fluid is converted 

 into more concentrated urine by reabsorption 

 which takes place in the tubules. 



The author criticises the Bowman-Heiden- 

 hain theory that secretion of urea, etc., occurs 

 in the tubules, partly because he interprets 

 Heidenhain 's celebrated pigment exj>eriments in 

 a new way, but mainly because it is vitalistic. 

 His own theory reduces the "kidney to a 

 machine," instead of postulating for it the 

 capacity of a trained analytical chemist. It is 

 a little difficult to follow the author here, for in 

 some pages the reabsorption which he supposes 

 to occur is spoken of as being indiscriminate and 

 mechanical, while in other places he speaks of ■ 

 the kidney-cells as rejecting the urea instead of 

 reabsorbing it, and in one place at least (p. 44) 

 he says that reabsorption depends on the vital 

 activity of the epithelium, and in so doing drops 

 into an expression which is anathema to him as 

 a rule. It really does not matter what word we 

 employ — secretory, selective, or vital ; but by 

 whichever name we call it, selective action is 

 undoubted in the case of other secretions, and ir» 

 the kidnev, whether the substances pass through 

 its cells in one direction or the other, the cells 

 do exercise discrimination. Prof. Cushny 

 argues that discrimination implies intelligence ; 

 he might just as well urg-e that the amoeba is 

 intelligent because it rejects non-nutritious 

 particles. 



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