122 



KXOWLKDr.i:. 



March. IQll. 



A good many excellent illustrations of the microscopic 

 appearance of crystals of various organic substances are 

 reproduced in the volume, and a coloured plate of the spectra 

 of haemoglobin and allied compounds forms a useful frontis- 

 piece. A list of reagents of use in Physiological Chemistry, 

 with the exact strength and mode of preparation of each, is 

 given in the appendix, and there is also an excellent index. 

 The volume is destined to become the standard class-book of 

 Practical Physiological Chemistry. 



PHYSIOLOGY. 



Preliminary Physiology. — By William Xarkamork. F.L.S. 



220 pages. 7i-in. X 5-in. 



iMethuen lS: Co. Price 3 6.) 



Nowadays every elementary teacher of e\ery elementary 

 subject regards it his duty or his privilege to bring out an 

 elementary text-book in which to display his elementary 

 knowledge of that subject. Such a book we have now before 

 us. The elementary error that " at the moment of swallowing 



. . . the epiglottis closes over the glottis." is repeated 

 throughout its pages and even figured. Again, on Page 72 we 

 read that. " Many of the white corpuscles contain more than 

 one nucleus," the truth being that, while all the white cor- 

 puscles are uninucleate, most have a more or less branched 

 nucleus, which might appear multiple to the casual observer. 

 In the preface we read that. " The illustrations for the book 

 have been prepared especially to help the teaching in the te.xt." 

 In this they succeed admirably, for many of them are equally 

 inaccurate. The diagram of the nose on Page 172 gives one 

 an entirely false idea of its bony structure, and the imagina- 

 tive picture of the epiglottis neatly closing over the glottis, 

 shown on Page 97, has already been referred to. 



The one redeeming feature of the book is the series of 

 micro-photos of animal tissues beautifully reproduced in the 

 form of plates. Some of these, notably those representing the 

 minute structure of skin, bone and muscle, are really excellent 

 and worthy of a place among better surroundings. There are 

 so many admirable text-books of elementary physiology, that 

 we find it impossible to recommend the example now before 

 us. 

 The Physiology of Rcproili(cfioii. — Bv Franxis H. .\. 



Marshall. 706 pages. 154 illustrations. 9-in. X6-in. 

 (Longmans, Green & Co. Price 21 - net.l 



This book is a carefully-written and most exhaustive treatise, 

 dealing with the times at and periods during which various 



animals breed, and the changes that take place in the repro- 

 ductive organs, including those of the female when pregnant. 

 Comparisons are drawn between man and other animals, 

 and the birth-rate is discussed. An interesting chapter deals 

 with the factors that determine sex, and the book concludes 

 with a consideration of the phases in the life of the individual. 



Of Distinguished Animals. — By H. Perry Robinson. 



234 pages. 56 illustrations. 75-in. X 5|-in. 



iWiUiam Heinemann. Price. 6 - net.l 



Portions of this most interesting volume appeared in the 



Tii)ics during 1909. under the title of " Studies in the 



Zoological Gardens." Those who enjoyed the articles then 



will welcome their publication in book form, more especially 



with the addition of the very excellent photographs taken in 



Regent's Park. All lovers of animals will read with great 



pleasure the racily-told anecdotes concerning the wild creatures, 



while the amount of information given anent them will cause 



future visits to the Zoo to be more enjoyable than ever. 



Reptiles of the World. — By Raymond L. DIT^L\RS. 



373 pages. 89 plates, gj-in. X 6rf-in. 



(Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons. Ltd. Price 20 - net.) 



In this book, which is at once remarkable for the value and 

 beauty of the illustrations, the classification of Dr. Boulenger 

 has been generally adopted, and from it it is possible to get an 

 excellent idea of recent reptiles. Various families are con- 

 sidered and tables are given of the genera, with the number of 

 species known. Habits are touched upon and some details 

 are included as to methods of feeding the animals. Besides 

 the excellent pictures of the complete animals various parts 

 are illustrated, such as the spurs of the Indian Python, w-hich are 

 the external portions of the well-formed hind legs possessed by 

 members of the family Boidae. .Another most striking illus- 

 tration is of the head of the Pit \'iper la New World 

 rattlesnake) showing the fangs. 



The .Airy Way. — By Geokgi: A. B. Dewar. 253 pages. 

 7^ -in. X 5-in. 

 iChatto ^: Windus. Price 6 - net.l 

 This book is a series of essays, written in Mr. Dewar's well- 

 known manner, which deal principally with flight ; and such 

 various creatures as butterflies, birds and bats are discussed 

 because they are all endowed with wings. There is. however, 

 much dealing with rural life and natural history, which goes 

 to make an interesting volume. 



NOTICES. 



LESSONS IN NATURE STUDY.— A great deal of good 

 might be done if schools would take advantage of the 

 specimens of a seasonable character, accompanied by outline 

 notes, which Mr. J. F. Rayner. of the Botanical Garden and 

 Laboratory. Highfield, Southampton, is now sending out for 

 the use of schools and teachers generally. 



FORTHCOMING BOOKS.— Messrs. Bailliere, Tindall and 

 Cox announce that they are publishing immediately the 

 following books : — " Atlas of First .Aid." by B. Myers ; 

 "Military Sanitation," by E. B. Knox: "Micro-organisms," 

 by M. Herzog. 



The English translation of Professor Henri Bergson's most 

 important work, Creative Evolution, will be published on 

 March 3rd, by Messrs. Macmillan & Co. The book is 

 arranged in four chapters, with the following headings : I. The 

 Evolution of Life — Mechanism and Teleology. II. The 

 Divergent Directions of the Evolution of Life — Torpor, Intelli- 

 gence, Instinct. III. On the meaning of Life — the Order of 

 Nature and the Form of Intelligence. W . The Cinemato- 

 graphical Mechanism of Thought and the Mechanistic 

 Illusion — A Glance at the History of Systems — Real. 

 Becoming, and False Evolutionism. The translator. Dr. 

 Arthur Mitchell, refers to the help he received through the 

 friendly interest and assistance of Professor William James, 

 who. had he lived to see the completion of the English edition. 

 had intended himself to introduce the work to English readers 



in a prefatory note. The author has himself carefully revised 

 the whole work. 



SPECTRCJSCOPIC APPARATUS.— We have received 

 the revised and enlarged edition of Messrs. .Adam Hilger and 

 Co.'s general catalogue, in which there are illustrated and 

 described a large series of spectrometers, spectrographs, 

 polarimeters, and refractometers. to.gether with the accessories 

 that are required, and a list isgi\en of the special sensitive plates 

 mamifactured for spectrographic work by Messrs. Wratten 

 and Wainwright. .\ sectional list has also been issued by the 

 same firm, dealing with Echelon diffraction gratings and 

 Lummer-Gehrcke parallel plates. 



.\ NIAV TYPE OF PHtJTOMETER.- Messrs. R. & J. Beck 

 have brought out an instrument iThcHolophaneLumeterl which 

 they claiui to be the first made for measuring the intensitv of 

 light as seen by the e\-e and not emitted from a light source. 

 It is a small portable instrument, containing an illuminated 

 disc with an aperture in the centre through which the object 

 to be examined is looked at. The illumination of the disc is 

 then adjusted until it is the same as that of the object to be 

 tested when the brightness of the latter can be immediatelv 

 read oft" on a scale of candle-feet. There are man)- uses to 

 which such a photometer may be put — for instance, it can 

 be used to ascertain whether the light on a book is sufficient 

 to read by without straining the eyes. 



