58 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Maech 1, 1900. 



to refer to this question, which has been much debated, 

 and is still undecided. We know, however of some 

 green plants which certainly use organic substances as 

 the source of part of their Carbon. Some have con- 

 trivances by which they capture insects, from whose 

 bodies thev afterwards draw organic nourishment; 

 among these are the Bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris) 

 and the Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), both of which 

 are British plants. Others are more oi less dependent 

 upon living plants for part of their organic food sup- 

 plies; these are called "parasites," and include such 

 well-known plants as " Eyebright " (Euphrasia offici- 

 nalis), and the "Yellow rattle" (Rhinanthus Cnsta- 

 galli), whose roots atta<:h themselves to the roots of 

 other plants. Many ground orchids are known to 

 live partly upon organic substances which are foiind 

 in the humus of the soil ; plants such as these, which 

 derive more or less of their nutriment from dead or- 

 ganic substances, are known as " Saprophytes. ' 



floticcs of Boofts. 



. • 



" Animal Biology.'' An Elementary Text-Book. By C.Lloyd 

 Morgan F.K.s. Third edition. Revised. (Longmans.: 8s. M. 

 Professor Lloyd Morgan's httle book was first pubhshed twelve 

 years a^o and" was written to meet the requirements of students 

 preparintr' for the Intermediate Science and Preliminary 

 Scientifi? Examinations of the London Tmversity. But since 

 the appearance of the book the syllabuses for these examinations 

 have been altered, and the opportunity of the demand for another 

 edition has been taken to modify the contents of the volume so 

 that it mav stiU serve its original purpose. But though the 

 anatomy of the bird has disappeared from the syllabus, we are 

 glad the chapter on this subject has been retained, for its 

 inclusion mav tempt the undergraduate to read it and so obtain 

 a broader view of the animal kingdom than a rigid adherence 

 to examination requirements would secure. Professor Morgan's 

 book retains nearly aU the excellent quahties for which it has 

 become widely known, and the number of illustrations has been 

 increased The early chapters of the first edition, dealing in 

 succession with general anatomy, physiology, histology, and 

 embryology, have given place to a more formal treatment of the 

 frog doc'fi'sh, amphioxus, rabbit and pigeon, in separate chapters. 

 Similarfv. in the new edition, a single chapter on physiology 

 takes the place of separate chapters on nutrition and metabohsm, 

 the heart and circulation, and the brain and nerves. It is very 

 questionable whether the new arrangement is an improvement. 

 In the opinion of the writer, one of the charms of the older 

 order was that a constant comparison was inevitable, and the 

 continual insistence upon hkenesses and differences was a source 

 of stimulation which we fear may be absent from the new 

 edition. But at the same time we have no hesitation m heartily 

 recommending the book as a clear, exact, up-to-date introduction 

 to animal biology. Tndoubtedly the volume will retain its 

 position as one of the best means of arriving at a knowledge of 

 the subjects of which it treats. 



" Optics. A Manual for f-tudents." By A. S. Perciviil, m.a., m.b. 

 (10s. net.) "Handbook of Optics for Students of Oplithalmoloj;y." 

 Bv W. N. Suter. B.A., M. D. (London: Macmillan i. Co., Limited. 

 Xew York : The MacmiUan Company. 1899.) It is recorded in the 

 Annals of Cambridge CniversitT that once in answer to " State and 

 prove Taylor's Theorem " a questionist replied that he did not just 

 then recollect how it was done, but that it would be found on page 72 

 of Todhunter's 'Differential Calculus." It is all very well for a 

 student to Umit his idea of the use of a text book by its usefulness 

 for examination purposes, and by so studyinc it from cover to cover to 

 fc-m an index in his head of its contents, but it is by no m°ans well 

 for the author to neglect or ignore the far larger body of students 

 whose acadenuc examinations are receding rapidly into the past, and 

 «hose present life is so full of practical questions that they have no 

 time to read through a whole book or chapter of irreleTant matter to 

 find the answer that they seek. So in the first of these t«o books on 

 the science of optics for" ophthalmic students the great fault we have 

 to find with Mr. Percival's excellent treatise is the omission of any 

 sort of index to the text. Dr. Suter has not made this omission. 



His book is smaller, more elementary, but perhaps more practical. 

 The difference may be thus expressed : — Mr. Percival has written a 

 text-book for students. Dr. Suter a manual for oculists, ilr. Percival's 

 book is delightful reading ; he explains most lucidly the wave-theory 

 of Ught, and from its principles deduces the laws of reflexion, 

 refraction, diffraction, dispersion, and caustics. The reader clearly 

 understands the reasons for ametropia, aphakia or astigmatism, but in 

 the case of the last would find it difficult to look for anything about 

 it, unless he had already read through the entire book. Perhaps 

 the ordinary oculist would understand better how to draw out a 

 prescription for glasses from Dr. Sut^r's explanations. On the other 

 hand. Dr. Suter leaves out all about first princip'.es, and takes for 

 granted as much as is possible of the theory. Taken together, these 

 two manuals would form a very excellent addition to an oculist's or 

 even an astronomer's hbran. 



"An Easy Guide to the Constellations with a Star Atlas." By the Eev. 

 James Gall. (London: G^U & Inglis, 25, Paternoster Square. 190U.) 

 We are glad to see a new and enlarged edition of this Uttle book, and 

 would desire a wide circulation for its admir-ably clear maps and 

 descriptions of the constellations and then* principal stars. Seeing, 

 however, that it is a new ecUtiou, we regret to see retained in it one 

 or two theories wliich have no basis in fact, or are absolutely wrong. 

 Foi- instance, the theory is quoted that connects the naming of Libra 

 with the equal balancing of day and night at the equinoxes (p. 13), 

 and on p. 38 we have again dragged in the modern myth of a central 

 sun in the Pleiades. There seems to be some discord between the 

 map 29 of the constellations and the constellation figures ; one of 

 them has been turned through 90" with respect to the other. And why 

 should poor Cassiopeia, a queen and enthroned, be made to bear the 

 loss of her garments as well as of her daughter ? 



■■ Science and Faith ; or Man as an Animal, and Man as a 

 Member of Society, with a discussion of Animal Societies." By 

 Dr. Paid TopinarS. Translated from the Author's MS. by T J. 

 McCormack. (Kegan Paul.) It is somewhat difficidt to realise 

 for what class of readers the first portion of this volume is in- 

 tended, since in the account of the relationship of man to the 

 lower animals (which to the trained naturalist is superfluous) the 

 terms employed are so technical as to be quite beyond the com- 

 prehension of the " man in the street." Moreover, the naturahst 

 himself wiU take exception to some of the terms used — notably the 

 proposal (p. 6) to designate the Old World monkeys as Pithe- 

 cidae, no such genus as Pithecus existing. Again, a mispriat like 

 Archeul (p. 14) instead of Acheul ; and, still more, the expression 

 ■" nineteen vertebra " (p. 16) instead of " nineteen dorso-lumbar 

 vertebne," wiU tend to somewhat shake confidence in the accuracy 

 and capacity of the translator. But let this pass. The work, as 

 a whole, may be regarded as the extreme development of anthi'o- 

 pology from"the point of view of a French free-thinker ; canyin" 

 it, indeed, out of the domain of physical into that of psychical 

 science. As we glean from the preface, the author's object is to 

 demonstrate that anthropology, supposing it not to concei-n itself 

 with societies, discovers in "man an animal only ; man in his 

 primitive stage is perforce subjective, and by a rigorous natural 

 logic egocentric ; the law of self-preservation, as determining his 

 conduct, both towards nature and his fellow-animals, is paramount 

 with him. Sociologically considered, therefore, man's animality, 

 his inherited egocentrism, is the source of aU social difficulties. 

 And this real or apparent contradiction between the individual 

 and society, between social evolution as it is and as it should be, 

 constitutes the problem for solution. It has to be demonstrated 

 firstly, how man has evolved from an egocentric to a sociocentnc 

 animal, and, finallv, what guide does the past furnish for the 

 future. The answe'r, in a word, is that a rationally and sociocen- 

 tricaUy acquired ego, mechanical in its habits and super-indivi- 

 dual in its impulses, is to be substituted for the primordial, self- 

 seeking animal ego. Although we are not concerned to enquire 

 whether the learned author is right or wrong in his conclusions, 

 we may venture to suggest that some at least of his doctrines are 

 not of"a verv comforting or hopeful nature. As an example, we 

 quote the foUowing passage from page 261 : " How on our planet 

 was the first granule of protoplasm formed? The end, so far as 

 we are concerned, we know. Our earth will cease to be habitable. 

 It will grow cold, will doubtless lose its atmosphere, its humidity, 

 and wiU resemble our present moon. Evolution, from haying been 

 prot^ressive, wiU become stationary, then retrogressive. Some day, 

 as Huxley has asserted, the Uchens, the diatoms, and protoeoccus 

 will be the only Uving beings adapted to the conditions and 

 finallv there will be nothing. As for our sun, when it shaU have 

 exhausted its present store of fuel, when it shall have become 

 habitable, and shall have had its ascendmg and descending evolu- 

 tions, and lost also its human phase, it, too, in its turn will become 

 a dead star lost in space, and other systems will begin and wdl 

 shme for a period, to end as the others have ended. And to what 

 purpose is it aU?" With the remark that the author considers 

 it to be our wisest course to humbly confess our inadequacy and 



