July i6, 1891] 



NATURE 



243 



secondary schools, or to the discretion of the teachers 

 of the elementary schools, elicited some difference of 

 opinion ; but on the whole the Conference favoured the 

 plan of examination by a board appointed by the County 

 Council, acting as far as possible in co-operation with 

 the head masters of the secondary schools of the county. 

 On one point all were agreed : viz. that there should be 

 two examinations, or at least two standards — one for the 

 country districts and the other for the towns — lest the 

 whole of the scholarships should be monopolized by the 

 most favoured districts. The opinion was also expressed 

 that it might be sometimes desirable (as apparently would 

 not be illegal under the Technical Instruction (Amend- 

 ment) Act, 1 891) to make scholarships tenable at certain 

 efficient private profit schools, where no public schools are 

 available, although such schools are debarred from re- 

 ceiving direct assistance. Such a course, however, would 

 have to be adopted with the utmost caution. 



Finally, the Conference considered the relations of the 

 County Councils to the Technical Association, and a 

 unanimous opinion was expressed in favour of a closer 

 connection, while a suggestion was thrown out for the 

 establishment of a quarterly journal registering the pro- 

 gress made in the various counties, a proposal which we 

 are glad to hear is receiving the careful consideration of 

 the Association. 



Altogether, the discussion was felt to be of consider- 

 able value to those who have the practical work of 

 organization in hand. We hope that such a Confer- 

 ence will be held annually, even if not more often, for in 

 the novel work which lies before the County Councils 

 points of difficulty will continually occur, on which con- 

 sultation will be most useful. By the way, why should not 

 the organizing secretaries form a permanent Association, 

 on the model of the two Associations of Head Masters .-' 



THE EVOLUTION OF ANIMALS. 

 L Evolution des Formes Atiimales, avant I' Apparition 

 de VHoinme. By F. Priem. 384 pages. Illustrated. 

 (Paris: Bailli^re et Fils, 1891.) 



IN this addition to the series of volumes known as the 

 " Bibliothcque Scientifique Contemporaine," we have 

 a worthy companion to Prof Gaudry's " Les Ancetres de 

 Nos Animaux," published three years ago. To some 

 extent, indeed, the ground is covered by M. Gaudry's 

 more ambitious " Les Enchainements du Monde Animal," 

 but since the latter is in three volumes, the present work 

 ought to find numerous readers who might be repelled by 

 the length of the other. Moreover, the work before us 

 has the advantage of treating each group of animals 

 throughout geological time in consecutive form, whereas 

 in the " Enchainements " the Palaeozoic Invertebrates are 

 described in one volume, and those of the Secondary 

 period in another, while the Tertiary forms are not 

 recorded at all. Again, our author enters much more 

 fully into the probable origin of one group from another 

 than is the case in Gaudry's work. It is true, indeed, that 

 in most cases these views are not original ; but since they 

 are generally taken from the highest authorities on the 

 several groups, they will commend themselves the more 

 strongly to students. In most works on palaeontology 

 NO. I 133, VOL. 44] 



too little attention is, in our opinion, generally given to 

 the evolution of the various groups of the Invertebrata 

 from one another, and we can, therefore, give a hearty 

 welcome to a volume like the present which is mainly 

 devoted to this fascinating subject. 



We need hardly say that Prof Priem is an out-and-out 

 evolutionist ; and we trust that we shall not disparage 

 his work by observing that 'in some cases — apparently 

 carried away by the very natural desire to make the most 

 of his subject — he appears to have gone rather too far, 

 stating as facts what are at best but probable hypotheses. 

 For instance, we find it definitely stated on p. 273 that 

 the Stegocephalous (Labyrinthodont) Amphibians had a 

 functional parietal eye, whereas there is, of course, no 

 actual proof that this was the case. 



The work is rendered attractive by the large number 

 of woodcuts with which it is illustrated. We regret, 

 however, that in some cases — and more especially among 

 the Vertebrates — the execution of these figures is by no 

 means satisfactory. Moreover, in the chapters devoted 

 to the Vertebrates (some of which are the weakest portions 

 of the work) there are figures which are not only bad, 

 but are utterly untrue to nature. Thus on p. 266 the 

 old figure of Coccosteiis, with the maxillary bone doing 

 duty for the mandible, once more reappears ; while on 

 p. 301 we have the reproduction of Goldfuss s erroneous 

 restoration of Pterodactylus crassirostris, which is un- 

 fortunately given as an illustration of the short-tailed 

 genus Pterodactylus, whereas that particular species 

 belongs to the long-tailed genus Scaphognathus. 



We notice that in many instances M. Priem gives his 

 authority for his statements as to the phylogeny of parti- 

 cular groups, whereas in other cases such references are 

 omitted. This is to be regretted, since it is often some- 

 what difficult to find out whether the author is promul- 

 gating his own views, or quoting those of others. 



The volume commences with an introductory chapter 

 on palaeontological evolution, in which the phylogeny of 

 the horse, and the well-known passage of Paludina 

 7ieumayri into P. hcernesi are instanced as the best 

 examples we have of the derivation of one form from 

 another. Following this chapter, we have the various 

 groups of animals treated in detail, commencing from 

 the lowest. In the main the classification adopted is 

 fairly well up to date, although we shall note some in- 

 stances where the author departs from the more usual 

 modern arrangements. 



For example, in treating of the classification of the 

 Sponges on p. 36, the author disregards Prof. Sollas's 

 separation of the Calcareous Sponges (Calcispongias) as 

 a group of equal value with all the others (Plethospongiae), 

 so that we find the Soft, Horny, Flinty, and Calcareous 

 Sponges ranked as equivalent groups. Again, in the 

 Ccelenterates (or, as we prefer to call them. Zoophytes), 

 the Palaeozoic Corals are still classed under the primary 

 divisions of Tabulata and Rugosa; the former group 

 including such different forms as Favosites (belonging to 

 the Zoantharia) and \Heliolites, Halysites and Chcetetes 

 (usually referred to the Alcyonaria). Later on, however, 

 pp. 62-64, the author recognizes Heliolites and its allies 

 as the ancestors of the modern coral-like Alcyonarians, 

 such as the Organ-pipe Coral {Tubipora), and we there- 



