546 



NA TURE 



[October 4, 1894 



their works as doomed to rapid extinction. Whether an 

 examiner should prepare a text-book for his own syllabus 

 is a matter of opinion, and much can be said both for 

 and against the system. But, however that may be, it is 

 certain that persons desirous of passing an examination 

 could not do better than read the works of the one who 

 sets the questions. In the case of the book before us, we 

 have no hesitation in saying that it is as clear and con- 

 nected an exposition of the laws of health and causes of 

 disease as anyone could desire, be he a sordid hunter 

 after certificates or a true seeker after knowledge. The 

 authors have treated their subject scientifically, and yet 

 with few technicalities, hence their work should appeal 

 to a large public. Beginning with a chapter on air. they 

 pass to others on water and food, and then to soils, sites, 

 and buildings. The fifth chapter is concerned with 

 drainage, after which are treated personal hygiene, in- 

 fection and disinfection, parasites, climate and weather, 

 and finally vital statistics. It will be seen from this that 

 the subject is not treated in all its bearings ; neverthe- 

 less, what is included in the manual forms an excellent 

 basis for further study. Students who use the book will 

 find it a pleasant road to knowledge, and they may con- 

 fidently put their trust in its contents. 



We note that here and there the authors, like many 

 other writers on hygiene, do not sufficiently distinguish 

 between heat and temperature. For instance, on p. 283 

 it is written : "At the ordinary temperature of the air, 

 water boils at ;i2^ F., and the moment the temperature 

 falls below that heat, steam condenses. ' In this sentence 

 the word heat is used in the sense that a cook employs it, 

 not as a scientific man should write it. 



Dr. Reynolds primer deals with those portions of 

 hygiene which concern the health of the household. If 

 Its contents were more widely known, the mortality from 

 preventible disease would be greatly diminished. The 

 greatest praise that can be given to a primer is to say 

 that readers of the book will acquire just the kind and 

 amount of knowledge to make them, like Oliver Twist, 

 hunger for more. This commendation can safely be 

 given to Dr. Reynolds' little volume, which is a model of 

 what an introduction to hygiene, suitable for the general 

 reader as well as the elementary student, should be. 



hur and Feather Scries. — The Grouse. By Rev. H. A. 

 Macpherson, A. J. Stuart- Wortley, and George Saints- 

 bury. Edited by Alfred li. T. Watson. (London : 

 Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894.) 



In the book before us the grouse is re;.;arded from three 

 different standpoints, and treated accordingly. In the 

 first, the Rev. H. \. Macpherson introduces us to his 

 natural history from the point of view of sport, telling us, 

 after he has devoted a chapter in praise of the bird, the 

 manners and '" private life " of the grouse ; the enemies 

 with which it has to deal ; the variability of the plumage 

 in which it is wrapped, and the methods by which 

 grouse are captured by " becking." 

 full of anecdotes and thoroughly 

 make one long to hear the cocks 

 ringing " Er — eck — kek — kek ! wuk, 



The second part is devoted to the shooting of the bird, 

 and is contributed by Mr. A. J. Stuart- Wortley, who 

 handles the subject in a straightforward manner. 



We might here discuss at len;;th the contents of the 

 seven chapters on this subject, but we will leave it to 

 the reader to find out for himself what the author has to 

 say on such subjects as .Scotch and English driving, 

 ground stock and poaching, records and remarks, shoot- 

 ing over dogs, X:c. 



The third and concluding section of the book deals 

 with the last, but by no means the least important, stage 

 of the grouse -his presence on the dinner tabic. Mr. 

 George Saintsbury completes his task well in laying 

 before the reader the numerous and widely different 



These chapters are 

 readable, and they 

 uttering their clear 

 wuk wuk. 



NO. I "^OI. VOL, 



50] 



methods of cooking. Not only is the treatment applied to 

 the bird as a whole, but also to such variations as grouse 

 soup, quenelles, croquettes, bouclu'es, &c. 



Summing up then in a few words, we may say that 

 we have nothing but praise to bestow on the book, 

 which is a very valuable contribution to natural history, 

 and worthily keeps up the reputation of the admirable 

 series of which it forms a patt. Everv naturalist and 

 every carrier of the gun will find it delightful to read, 

 and at the same time will, no doubt, receive many useful 

 wrinkles. Besides the text being all that could be desired, 

 the illustrations are really excellent. Thev are after the 

 drawings of Mr. A. J.' Stuart-Wortley and Mr. A. 

 Thorburn, and were designed under the supervision ot 

 the first named. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



\The Riiitor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertakt 

 to return, or to correspond -.vith the viriters of, rejecti.i 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part <7/NATtIRB. 

 AV notice is taken of anonymous communications. ] 



Has the Case for Direct Organic Adaptation been 

 fully stated ? 



The heading of thi* letter is in the form of .1 question for 

 the following reasons : (i) It is impossible to keep pace witli 

 the literature on the subject of Evolution while engaged on any 

 other absorbing work ; and (2) so many giants have been en- 

 gaged in the discussion, that it requires courage even to suggest 

 that a point has been overlooked. It seems to me that nothinc 

 could be added to Herbert Spencer's convincing arguments tliai 

 acquired characters must somehow he transmitted. I wish 

 merely to suggest a method of describing this transmission 

 which I have never yet seen in print, and which, I must think, 

 is not generally recognised, inasmuch as it modifies Weismann's 

 "contradictory facts" into not insuperable difficulties. 



While studying the Phyllopod Crustacean Apus, I came to 

 the conclusion that it might be derived from an .Vnnelid which 

 bent its head segments round ventrally, and pushed the food into 

 its mouth with its parapodia. Simple as the suggestion may 

 seem, the facts are indisputable that Apus can be so deduced, 

 and further, that there is a considerable mass of evidence to show 

 that it actually was so deduced.' If so, we should have one 

 group of animals, the Crustacea, developed from another, the 

 Annelida, not primarily by the summation of a long series of 

 small variations by the action of Natural .'^election, but by the 

 active adoption on the part of a portion of the latter of a special 

 manner of feeding. \Ve m.ay perhaps brielly describe the pro- 

 cess as follows. .\ certain number of Cha;topod .Vnnelids 

 found themselves in a region where the most favourable diet was 

 only to be obtained in the manner described ; the mouth had 

 to be turned down ventrally so as to open backwards, and the 

 lateral parapodia (bordering it in its new position) raked the 

 food together and pushed it into the mouth. Cienerations of 

 these Annelids would be produced in the same region, and 

 would, in response to the same stimulus, practise the same 

 method of feeding. Natural Selection would perfect the habit, 

 and also inevitably perfect it earlier and earlier in the lives oj 

 • iicceedini; generations. 



Hut here, it will be said, we have ultioaately to call in the aid 

 of the transmission of acquired characters by inheritance. 

 Ves ; but this inheritance comes in at the end of a long series 

 without appreciable break in the regular sequence. The last 

 stage of individual acquirement is when the very youngest 

 animal capable of feeding adopts the perfected habit as it 

 first feeding act — in response, that is, to the same stimulus from 

 the environment which led its parents to adopt it. The very 

 next stage is that in which the young animal places its head 

 segments in the right position prior to being able to feed. Here 

 we may assume either that the " instinct ' has been inherited, 

 or, considering; that the possible positions of the head segments are 

 not numerous, that Natural Selection winnowed out all those 



' I h.ivc endeavoured to accumulate this cvidrnce in the following publi- 

 cation* :—*' The Apodidsc," Natukb Series, 1892, and " The Systematic 



I'oiilion of the Tlilol)ite>," in the 0"'"'/'' '■''.)/'""■'"''•'/'*' '''"'"i'"^'''-^'""'',''' 

 Au2ust i3;4. 



