August, 1906.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



517 



chromatin, which appear of various shapes, and more 

 or less separated from each other, as in a resting 

 nucleus. This is the stage of preparation, and in very 

 careful preparations it is possible to make out the 

 existence near the nucleus of a peculiar body, the 

 " nuclear spindle," as yet quite small, but subsequently 

 attaining' a much larger size. The spindle is said to be 

 formed from the kinoplasm, but all observers do not 

 agree on this point. Thj3 first stage (without the 

 spindle) is shown in Fig. ^a, which shows two nuclei, 

 one of which is in the first or preparatory stage, the 



Fig. sb. 



other (nidie spiiidle-siiaped) one Ijeiiig in the second or 

 spirem stage. The other part of liie lignrc shows an 

 early spirem. 



In the following stage, the m.asscs of chromatin seem 

 to* join up into one long tiiread, which has the a])pear- 

 ancc of a skein, and hence known as the " spirem " 

 phase (.sec Fig. 5a). The poles of the nuclear spindle 

 liavc travelled further apart, and if centrospheres are 

 present, they arc seen one at each pole. Since the 

 separate threads of which the spindle is composed do 

 not stain with chromatin staining dyes, it is further 

 known as the " achromatic spindle." 



F"ig. 5b shows a nucleus in a preparatory stage. 

 (To he continued. 1 



REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 



ASTRONOMY. 



Astronomy in the Old Testament, by (i. Schiaparelli. 

 .\utlioi'i>e(l lCiigli.-,h transl.alioii. (Clarejidon Press, Oxford ; 

 3s. 6d. net.) — This is a disappointing book, disappointing 

 not so much for the manner in which it is writien, but in 

 that the investigation gone into is so barren of results. It 

 might be exiiccted that there would be numerous allusions 

 in the Old Testament to astronomical phenomena, which 

 inigbt btrir explanation, and be of the highest interest. 



But very few are here described. Again and again we are 

 told that such and such a statement apparently refers to 

 such and such an astronomical event. But there is no cer- 

 tainty all through ; all is conjecture, and most of the quota- 

 tions are practically unexplainable. And the book even 

 tends to some confusion ; in one part it is stated : " We are 

 led to the important conclusion that . . . the Hebrews had 

 some knowledge of the sev(-n planets," and yet in another 

 ])art, " Of the planets considered singly, two only can be 

 traced in the Old Testament." Though of but negative 

 interest, the book should prove of great use to those who 

 wish to investigate this subject. It would have been the 

 better for an index. 



Giant Sun and His Family, by ..Mary Proctor (.Silver, 

 Burdctt and Co., New York, Boston, and Chicago, 1906; 

 pp. viii. + 167, with fronlis])iece and illustrations). — With- 

 out displaying the facility and erudition of her celebrated 

 lather, the authoress of the present work has succeeded in 

 |;roducing a volume of great interest to young readers. It 

 IS professedly an epitome of a series of lectures, and as 

 such is not free from some of the drawbacks associated 

 with a work of that kind, especially in regard to the balance 

 of the different parts of the subject, the three eclipses 

 actually witnessed by the writer being allotted needlessly 

 large space, with repeated detail from nearly parallel ac- 

 counts, considering that space had also to be found for 

 much other solar work, besides the chapters on the inanv 

 members of the " Giant's " family. As a book for children, 

 its primary object, the volume should find a ready welcome; 

 but as a text-book, it is not beyond reproach. '.Apparently 

 the writer's desire to avoid even such a harmless technical 

 term as " section " may be held responsible for the am- 

 biguous statement that the moon's .shadow is " of the same 

 general shape as itself, that of a lunq, narivw cone." We 

 might also allege looseness of expression, if not inaccuracy, 

 against the remark that Halley and Encke discovered 

 the comets that bear their respective names. The illustra- 

 tions are nearly all good, though the lunar landscape which 

 forms the frontispiece may not be convincing. 



Modern Cosmogonies, by Agnes M. Gierke (London : 

 .\. and G. Black, 1905 ; pp. vii. -t- 2<S7 ; 3s. 6d. net). — .Most 

 of this work should be familiar to the readers of 

 " Knowledge," thirteen of the sixteen chapters having 

 already appeared in its pages — some before and some after 

 the change in the title of the magazine. .Miss Gierke's 

 well-known litei'ary style, with its fertile command of 

 language and facility of luminous expression, is bevond 

 criticism. .Vny reader of her other works will be prepared 

 by the very title of the one before us to find her revelling 

 in word-pictures of the sublinie speculations of philosophers 

 and scientists as to the origin, progress, and destiny of the 

 universe, a subject of sulTicient sco|)e for the most ardent 

 inquirer. From Tbales to the new Satellites of 1905, 

 though naturally in a work on .Modern Cosmogonies only 

 one chapter can be spared for the predecessors of Kant, 

 hardly a single worker who has really added anvthing, how- 

 ever small, to the subject, goes without recognition by .Miss 

 Gierke, whose instinct may perhaps at times see more in 

 such contributions than their originator probably contem- 

 plated, .and accordingl\ do him more than justice.' A great 

 subject treated in a masterly manner, and, withal, a verv 

 readable book. But the last word on Cosmogony is not 

 yet written, and we imagine it will not be long before new 

 quantitative investigations of tidal friction, new refinements 

 of spectroscopy, or new speculations as to ether, protvic, or 

 the genesis of organisms may be demanding new editions, 

 revised and enlarged, which we hope the gifted authoress 

 may long be spared to provide. 



BOTANY. 



A Ke\isod Key of the Hepatics of the British Islands, by 



Symers i\l. M.icvicar ( K.isi bourne : V. T. Sumfield ; gd. 

 post free.) — This appears to be mainly written for the use 

 of beginners, to whom it will be of service in ascertaining 

 the name of a plant, which can afterwards be verified, and 

 fuller details obtained from a more advanced text-book. 

 .Some useful information is given in the preface, as to the 

 points to be noted in the examination of a specimen. 



