May 26, 1892] 



NATURE 



75 



author tells us, " to illustrate in a popular manner a few 

 of the various modes in which animals— especially verte- 

 brates — are adapted to similar conditions ; and also to 

 demonstrate some of the more remarkable types of 

 structure obtaining among the higher vertebrates." 



The subject is one upon which Mr. Lydekker is well 

 qualified to write ; this is alone a decided recommenda- 

 tion to the book. As a rule, the writing of " popular " 

 books and magazine articles is done by persons who have 

 no special knowledge of the matters of which they treat, 

 and the result of this is not at all gratifying to instructed 

 readers. Mr. Lydekker recognizes the fact that it is 

 impossible to write upon zoology without using plenty of 

 technical terms. When such terms are used they are 

 introduced without any apologies. There are some 

 authors who have the habit of invariably interpolating an 

 apologetic remark in brackets whenever an unusually 

 lengthy word is used. This practice is not at all 

 humorous ; and, besides, it is insulting to the intelligence 

 of the reader. Anyone who is likely to read an article 

 upon zoology is perfectly well able to take care of himself 

 when he meets with a strictly technical explanation of 

 some fact. Mr. Lydekker is therefore, in our opinion, 

 quite right in speaking of "Condyles," "Dinosaurs," 

 *' Iguanodons," &c., with perfect freedom. Sometimes, 

 however, he goes out of his way to invent or borrow an 

 English equivalent for a scientific name; thus the 

 Ichthyosaurus is always referred to as a " fish-Hzard." 

 It seems to us that if there be any fossil creature whose 

 name is absolutely without need of translation it is the 

 Ichthyosaurus ; we cannot remember the time when this 

 name was ;unfamiliar to us ; besides, to speak of these 

 reptiles as "fish-lizards" implies that they are inter- 

 mediate between fishes and lizards, which is by no means 

 the case. It would have been in every way much more 

 reasonable if Mr. Lydekker had spoken of the Dinosaurs 

 as " bird-lizards." 



The chapter dealing with these same Dinosaurs is 

 perhaps the most interesting. The information which is 

 given must be newer to the general reader. There is a 

 figure of one of the splendid skeletons of the Iguanodon 

 recently unearthed in Belgium, and now on view in the 

 Brussels Museum ; the reproduction of the plate illustrat- 

 ing M. Dollo's memoir upon these remains is not, how- 

 ever, very good ; it is difficult to distinguish the numerous 

 small bones which lie along the vertebral column, and 

 which are an indication of the immense development of 

 the tendons of the muscles used to move the powerful tail 

 of the reptile. M. Dollo thought that the Iguanodon 

 lived principally in marshes swimming with the aid of the 

 tail, and only occasionally coming forth to browse upon 

 shrubs on the dry land. | 



There is naturally a chapter upon the Monotremes. 

 Quite close to the beginning of the chapter it is stated 

 that "within the last few years" these Mammals have 

 been discovered to be oviparous, like reptiles and birds. 

 Mr. Lydekker's book deals mainly with extinct forms of | 

 life, and he must have forgotten that in this chapter he j 

 was dealing with historical and not with geological time. 

 It is surely unnecessary to remind the author that the I 

 oviparity of the Monotremata is not a discovery of the | 

 last few years ; the ri?-discovery by -Mr. Caldwell of this I 

 remarkable fact strikingly shows how an important point | 

 NO. I 1 78, VOL. 46] 



of this kind may be utterly forgotten. The history of the 

 whole question has been the subject of an interesting 

 article in this journal by Prof. Baldwin Spencer, which 

 appeared two or three years ago. 



F. E. B. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Silk Dyeing, Printing, and Finishing. By George H. 



Hurst, F.C.S. (London ; George Bell and Sons, 1892.) 

 Published information connected with the application 

 of colouring matters to silk is somewhat limited, and for 

 the most part scattered throughout the various pamphlets 

 issued by coal-tar colour manufacturers, the periodicals 

 devoted to dyeing, &c. 



The present publication is therefore very acceptable, 

 since it brings together, in a convenient and useful form, 

 much of this diffused information, and constitutes one of 

 the well-known series of technological hand-books edited 

 by Sir H. Trueman Wood, Secretary of the Society of 

 Arts. 



The author, Mr. Hurst, has here rewritten and brought 

 up to date his articles on the subject of silk-dyeing which 

 appeared during 1889 in the pages of the Dyer and 

 Calico Printer, and has added chapters on silk printing 

 and finishing, and on the testing of dyed silks. 



The language and style of the book are clear and ex- 

 plicit, and it has evidently been written with distinctly 

 practical aims, so numerous are the working details given 

 throughout the work. 



The opening chapter contains an account of the origin, 

 structure, composition, and properties of the most import- 

 ant varieties of silk, followed by one on the preliminary 

 operations of "boiling-off " and bleaching. Special chap- 

 ters are devoted to the dyeing of blacks, fancy colours, 

 and mixed fabrics. The concluding chapters deal 

 with silk printing, the machinery used in dyeing and 

 finishing, and the examination and assaying of raw and 

 dyed silk. 



Some 170 selected and also original recipes, together 

 with 66 dyed patterns of yarn and cloth, appear as an 

 appendix. Altogether the author has succeeded in com- 

 pressing into a somewhat limited space of about 230 pages, 

 a considerable amount of useful practical information. 



In the body of the work, containing numerous technical 

 details of dyeing, explanations of the principles under- 

 lying the different processes involved are here and there 

 inter5persed, so that the volume may be recommended 

 as a handy book of reference not only for the practical 

 dyer and his apprentice, but also for the student and 

 teacher in technical schools where silk dyeing is taught. 



Phycological Memoirs. Edited by Geo.Murray,F.R.S.E., 

 F.L.S. Part I. (London: Dulau and Co., 1892.) 



The establishment of this new serial is an indication ot 

 the increased attention given in this country during recent 

 years to the study of Algas, whether marine or fresh-water. 

 It is intended to form a medium for the publication of the 

 results of researches on Algae carried on in the Depart- 

 ment of Botany at the British Museum, and for making 

 known the treasures of the Museum ; and the present 

 number is full of promise of valuable additions to our 

 phycological literature. The place of honour is given to 

 a paper by Miss Margaret O. Mitchell and Miss Frances 

 G. Whitting on Splachnidium rugosum, a well-known 

 seaweed of the Southern Seas, hitherto included under 

 the Fucacea, but which the authors regard as a new type 

 of Algae occupying possibly an intermediate position be- 

 tween the FucacecE and the Laminariacece. For reasons 

 which certainly seem cogent, they are of opinion that the 

 reproductive organs contained in the conceptacles are 

 not sexual oogones and antherids homologous to those of 



