258 



* KNOWLEDGE - 



[June 1, 1886. 



Dr. Hudson ;ind Mr. Gosse's magnificent work, we are 

 ignorant of the particular form of rotifer which tliey select 

 as their typical one ; but, fur our present purpose, we may 

 take that very common one, the Eotifer vulgaris, and ask 

 the reader, who a]iproaches the ctuisideration of this subject 

 for the first time, to picture to himself an aquatic animal 

 allied to a worm, having a transparent body about one- 

 fiftieth of an inch in length. It has two small round red 

 eyes, two teeth (whose constant movement in triturating 

 the food swallowed by the creature was mistaken l>y 

 Leeuwenhoek for the pulsations of its heart 1), a stomach, 

 with suiTounding gasti'ic glands, a contractile vesicle, and a 

 nervous system, a triangular ganglion of which serves the 

 i-otifer for a brain. The variety of form, liowever, in this 

 marvellous group of creatures is almost inexhaustible, and 

 as far as their external appearance is concerned, numbeis of 

 them have scarcely anything in common save the trochal 

 disc, or wheel organ, and even that assumes the most 

 diverse forms in vai-ious genera and species (e.g. Synchseta 

 and Stephanoceros). Our authors have addressed them- 

 selves to the description and illustration of the entire 

 class of these strange organisms, and most admirably and 

 thoroughly are they performing their task. Of the correct- 

 ness and beauty of tire illustrations it would be impossible 

 to speak in too high terms. We are stating a very plain 

 and sober truth when we say that, for the purposes of the 

 student, they are perfect. Every mieiosco]iist at a loss for a 

 most interesting employment of his instrument, alike with 

 every student of liiolcgy and zoology, should procure this 

 superb book. In fact, a microscopical librarj- is as incom- 

 plete without it as would an ordinary one on whose shelves 

 neither the Bible nor Shakespeare found a place. 



A Short Manual of Chemistry. Vol. I., Inorganic 

 Chemistry. By A. Dupre, Ph.D., F.E.S., etc., and H. 

 Wilson " Hake, Ph.D., F.C.S., &c. (London : Chas. 

 Griffin A: Co. 1886.) — The conspicuous merit of this treatise 

 on chemistry by Drs. Dupre and Hake is that it begins at 

 the very beginning, and takes no preliminary knowledge 

 whatever for granted on the part of the student. The 

 introductory chapters are particularly good, and the in- 

 formation generally brought down to tho very latest 

 date. 



Arithmetic for Schools. By the Eev. J. B. Lock, M.A. 

 (London : Macmillan & Co. 1886.) — Mr. Lock very wisely 

 avoids crowding liis book with rules, and gives examples 

 worked out at length instead. The theory of the operation 

 to be performed is, however, always stated. He has 

 obviously taken immense pains with this work, which 

 seems well adapted to the purpose for which it was de- 

 signed. 



The Elenunts of Economics. By Henry Dunning Mau- 

 LEOD, M.A. In two vols. — Vol. I. (London : Longmans, 

 Green, & Co. 1881.) — There is a species of superstition, more 

 or less widely diffused, that with the universal establish- 

 ment of Free Trade, political economy would practically 

 cease to have any raison d'etre; but, as jNIr. Macleod points 

 out in the masterly work before us, this amounts to regarding 

 the science of economics as simply a destructive one, and 

 ignoring it altogether in its constructive or positive aspect. 

 No one could or would for an instant deny the yeoman's 

 service rendered to economicnl science in the past by such 

 representative men as Adam Smith, Pticardo, and John Stuart 

 Mill, but in many material respects they stood much in the 

 same relation to the more scientific economists of the present 

 day as Stahl with his '• Phlogiston " did to Priestley and his 

 successors. In reviewing the second volume of the work now 

 before us, on p. 192, we expressed the opinion that '■ if the 



previous portion of the book before us is as sound in its 

 inferences and apposite in its illustrations as the one before 

 us, it, as a whole, constitutes a valuable and important 

 contribution to economical science;" and we are happy to 

 find, on perusing the first volume, that our hypothetical 

 estimate of its value is thoroughly justified. A ripe scholar, 

 possessing information of the most varied and extensive 

 character, and an enthusiastic admirer of the Baconian 

 philosophy, Mr. Macleod has employed the inductive method 

 to build up a system of economics which must render his 

 book a classic, be the future developments of the science 

 •what they may. His originality and wealth of illustration 

 render his volumes readable even by those to whom their title 

 conveys little beyond the idea that they must treat of a very 

 dry subject. Anyone possessed by such a notion who will 

 open them will find himself agreeably disappointed. 



Coffee: Its Cultivation and Profit. By Edwin Lester 

 Arnold. (London : W. B. Whittingham & Co. 1886.)— 

 At a time when coftee-planting in Ceylon spells " pei-iodical 

 bankruptcy," a book on the " Cultivation and Profit " of what 

 was at one time the staple of the classical Taprobane may 

 well a]ipear, at the first blush, superfluous. Mr. Arnold, 

 however, points out in the eminently practical work before 

 us that a vast area of heretofore uncultivated land is in 

 existence upon which coflee could be grown at a handsome 

 profit, and in his concluding chapter on " Coffee Countries " 

 he shows over how wide an area of the earth's surface 

 remunerative crops of this valuable plant might be grown. 

 The minute and explicit directions for cotl'ee culture, which 

 form the main portion of the volume, are obviously the 

 work of an expert whose personal experience embraces 

 the most recent methods of cultivation and curing. Coffee- 

 planters who wish to make the most of their existing 

 estates will certainly buy the book ; while it may, fui'ther, 

 be commended to adventurous young men in search of 

 a pleasant and healthy occupation. 



Gesta Christi : a Ilistor;/ of Human Progress under 

 Christianity. By C. Loring Brace. (London : Hodder ifc 

 Stoughton.) — By gathering all the progress of humanity 

 during the last eighteen centuries to Christianity, and all 

 religious hatreds and persecutions to the Church, I\Ir. Brace 

 seems to make out a veiy strong case. The Catholic Church 

 seems to make out an even stronger case when attributing 

 all progress to the Chui-ch and all evil to freedom of uiquiry. 

 Science, did she care tor it, might make out a much stronger 

 case than either — a case, also, really not apparently strong — • 

 by showing the actual nature of progress among the Indo- 

 European races during the last 2,500 years. 



James Nasmyth, Engineer: An Autobiography. Edited 

 by Samuel Smiles. New Edition. (London : John Murray.) 

 — We are glad to see a new and cheaper edition of this most 

 interesting and instructive work. There is more real religion 

 in the life of such a man as Nasmyth than in the lives of a 

 thousand dreaming, hysteric " saints." We shall have occa- 

 sion to make further reference to this valuable book before 

 long. 



Modern Whist. By Clement Da vies. (Loudon : Samp- 

 son Low, Marston, & Co.) — This little treatise on whist is 

 reserved for I'eview by " Five of Clubs." It should be good 

 to justify its price. We have here a work of 96 pages, 

 whereof all but 41 either belong to title, preface, and the 

 laws ((\\\ote(}i verhdtim), or are blank; the 41 pages of origi- 

 nal matter average 170 words per page. The price of the 

 book is four shillings. Comjiaring this with the contents 

 and jsrice of " Cavendi.sh," and still more with tho.se of 

 " How to Play Whist," by " Five of Clubs," it will be seen 



