December, 1905. 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



305 



bridge between South America and Australia. With such 

 diversity of views among " doctors " it is a little difficult for 

 the amateur to know which lead to follow; and it is therefore 

 satisfactory that the subject is not one involving any vital or 

 pressing issues. 



Ancestry of the Dog. 



From deposits in Russia belonging to the polished stone-age 

 Dr. T. Studer has recently described the sUeleton of a large 

 kind of dog closely allied to the domesticated species. This 

 dog, which it is proposed to call Cnnis ponlintini, is believed to 

 have been originally wild but subsequently domesticated by 

 early man. In general characters it comes very close to the 

 Australian dingo. By crossing between this species and the 

 wolf Dr. Studer believes that other extinct species or races of 

 dogs have arisen, and from these in turn have been developed 

 the mastiffs on the one hand and the deerhounds on the other ; 

 and it is also presumed that the sheepdogs and hounds trace 

 their origin directly to the same ancestral form. On the other 

 hand terriers and Pomeranians are believed to have sprung 

 from a totally different extinct stock. Dr. Studer may be per- 

 fectly right in these respects, but he has yet to prove that Canis 

 poiitiatini is a truly wild form, and not a domesticated deriva- 

 tive from the wolf. 



A Mysterious R^eptile- 



In the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute a digni- 

 tary of the Church records some interesting information with 

 regard to an unknown reptile supposed to inhabit the Waoku 

 Plateau. Legends are rife as to the existence of this creature, 

 which is said to be amphibious ; and about five-and-thirty 

 years ago an example, in a decomposing condition, is reported 

 to have been seen by a European. A second specimen, about 

 18 inches long and of a yellow colour, is said to have been 

 observed by a lake about fifty years ago. The suggestion has been 

 made that the creature is a salamander ; but, from the distri- 

 bution of that group, this is highly improbable. If it be any- 

 thing more than a myth, it is far more likely to be an amphi- 

 bious representative of that strange reptile the New Zealand 

 tuatera, the sole known survivor of an extinct order. 



Tsetse Fly. 



All that is known concerning the geographical distribution 

 of those terrible African pests, the tsetse flies, will be found in 

 a map accompanying tlie latest issue of the Royal Society's 

 reports on the sleeping-sickness. 



REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 



The Microtomists' Vade-Mecum, by Arthur BoUes Lee. 

 Sixth edition, pp. x. and 53S. (J. & A. Churchill, 1905 ; 

 price 15s. net). — This well-known book was first published in 

 1885, and the volume before us is the sixth edition, the pre- 

 vious edition being issued in igoo. This alone would show 

 that the book is a useful one, but the fact is that to the 

 worker with the microscope, whether in anatomy, or physio- 

 logy, or zoology, the book has become indispensable as a work 

 of reference. It is above all things a book for the serious 

 worker, but the amateur, if he has the root of the matter in 

 him, and wishes to understand the methods of preparation of 

 objects upon which modern microscopical research is now so 

 largely built, will find it most instructive. To the professional 

 worker, however, it no longer needs recommendation. It 

 represents exceptional labour in bringing together so many 

 methods and formulae, and not less judgment in deciding what 

 to omit where the mass of material for selection is so great. 

 The new edition varies from the previous one mainly in the 

 direction of consolidation and perfecting of the arrangement 

 of the subject matter. The old chapter on " Staining with 

 Coal-tar Colours" is now embodied in the chapter on 

 " Staining " generally. The chapter on " Connective Tissues " 

 and on " Blood and Glands " appears now as two separate 

 chapters, and they contain much new matter, having been, in 

 fact, largely re-written. The chapters dealing with the nervous 

 system have been re-arranged, and have received especial 

 attention, with especial reference to new methods. The bulk 

 of the matter deals, of course, with histological methods for 



man and the higher vertebrates, and one might perhaps wish 

 that the methods for the invertebrata could be slightly 

 extended. — F.S.S. 



Methods in Microscopical Research-Vegetable Histology, by 



Abraham P'latters, F.K.M.S. ; pp. x. and 116; 2(j illustrations 

 in the text and 2Z coloured plates containing 85 figures 

 (Sherratt and Hughes, 11)05 ; price 21s. net). — Unlike the book 

 reviewed above, this work is written for the elementary student, 

 and not for the advanced worker. In fact, the title is some- 

 what misleading — unintentionally, no doubt — as the elemen- 

 tary methods in vegetable histology dealt with here can 

 scarcely be considered as methods of research, as the term is 

 generally understood, however suitable they may be for teach- 

 ing a class of beginners their first steps in botanical histological 

 methods. Mr. Flatters selects some half-dozen well-known 

 fixing and preservative reagents, and a dozen or so simple 

 stains, and explains the various processes by which a botanical 

 specimen can be prepared for section-cutting, either by the 

 celloidin or paraffin-infiltration methods, cut in the hand- 

 microtome, stained and mounted. The instructions generally 

 are based on those carried out by Mr. Flatters' class in the 

 Manchester Municipal School of Technology, and are clear, 

 concise, and adequate for their purpose. The accompanying 

 letter-press is beautifully illustrated, but some of the illus- 

 trations seem to be rather superfiuous — for example, an illus- 

 tration of eleven ordinary hollow-ground slides of different 

 sizes and shapes, or of twelve "rings" of different sizes for 

 building up deep cells. The plates are devoted to illustrations 

 of various botanical sections prepared by the above methods, 

 with brief descriptions. They are beautifully reproduced in 

 colours, and appear to be for the most part from photo- 

 micrographs, and, if not differing greatly from the ordinary 

 botanical slides sold by the better-class opticians, at least 

 serve to show what similar slides should look like, and have a 

 considerable educational value as well. The best of these 

 reproductions of slides is one showing mitotic division in a 

 longitudinal section of an onion. We are not quite sure 

 whether the volume under review is published in the ordinary 

 way, or is an advance copy of a work to be published by sub- 

 scription, conditional on a minimum of 200 subscribers being 

 obtained. — F.S.S. 



The Uses of British Plants. Books dealing with British 

 plants are legion, but one treating the subject from a new 

 point of view is decidedly a novelty. It may be argued that 

 no new idea is presented ; nevertheless the information brought 

 together was previously scattered through publications, dating 

 from the fourth century K.c. up to the present day. The reader 

 is introduced to many pecuhar views entertained by people of 

 past ages as to the virtues of our common wild plants from a 

 medicinal standpoint. The etymology of both English and 

 Latin names is instructive. Finally, the numerous figures, 

 illustrating 28S British plants, adds to the value of the book. 



Everyday Life Among the Head-hunters ; and other Ex- 

 periences from East to West. By Dorothy Cator, pp. xiv. and 

 212; illustrated (London, 1905: Longmans, Green and Co.; 

 price, 5s. net). — Apart from " experiences" on the West Coast 

 of Africa and elsewhere, which, although entertaining enough 

 in their way, are of no very special interest, Mrs. Cator has 

 given an account of some of the little-known tribes in the in- 

 terior of the great Malay island which accords to her brightly 

 written little volume a value far above what can be claimed 

 for many works of a similar nature. And not only is the author 

 to be congratulated on having furnished so much information 

 with regard to these native tribes, but she is entitled to a high 

 position among Englishwomen who have done credit to their 

 race and country by their personal prowess and pluck. As 

 the companion of her husband on several journeys connected 

 with his official position into the interior of Borneo, Mrs. Cator 

 hail the opportunity of seeing tribes to whom a European was 

 previously unknown, and from whom it was a question as to 

 the kind of reception which would be accorded to the 

 travellers. Fortunately, all turned out well, and the author is 

 enabled to bear testimony to the civility with which even the 

 most truculent of head-hunters receive strangers, and to their 

 quiet and afiectionate family life when they are not on the 

 war-path. Gifted with an observant mind, and with the power 

 of recording her impressions in pleasant and readable language, 

 the author has, we think, scored a decided success in this book 

 of travels among the head-hunters of Borneo. 



