244 



NA TURE 



[January io, 1895 



are copies, in some instances almost photographically 

 exact, of cases in the Natural History Museum? 



Mr. Robinson has kept his best wine for the last. He 

 has seldom, if ever, written anything more fresh and 

 charming than the description, in his concluding pages, 

 of the voles and water-hens of the osier bed in which in 

 boyish days he dodged his hated enemy the keeper, 

 slipping once, as he tells us, when suddenly surprised, 

 into the water, and sitting there " like a coot with only 

 head above the surface, and that half hidden by reeds ! " 

 The boy is father to the man, and we can pay the writer 

 no higher compliment than to say he has proved himself 

 worthy of his parentage. T. D. P. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Studies on the Ectoparasitic Trematodes of ynpan. By 

 Seitaro Goto, Rii:,akiishi. (Published by the Imperial 

 University, Tokyo, Japan, 1S94.) 



This memoir extends to 275 pages, and is illustrated by 

 twenty-seven plates. The species on which these studies 

 were made, were for the most part collected by the 

 iiuthor himself, from various parts of the Japanese coast, 

 between the years 1889 and 1892. For the present he 

 omits the Gyrodaclylidas, as his investigations of the 

 anatomy of this group are not yet completed. After a 

 brief introduction, in which the method of preparation 

 is described, the details of the anatomy of the several 

 systems, as met with among the species of the ten genera 

 found in Japan, are given ; this is followed by some notes 

 on the habitat, powers of locomotion, food and coloura- 

 tion of the several forms, and then we have the sys- 

 tematic portion. IJy far the greater number of the species 

 were found attached to the gills of fishes, but several 

 live in their oral cavity, and some even on the outer 

 surface of their bodies. In one remarkable instance, 

 that of J rtstomum hiparasiticum, the worm was 

 found always attached to the carapace of a copepod, 

 itself parasitic on the gills of Thvnnus alhacora. The 

 "looping" movements observed by Haswell have been 

 often witnessed by Goto, sometimes they are performed 

 so rapidly in succession as almost to escape observation ; 

 lateral movements in some instances were noticed. 

 Whilst the greater number feed on the mucous slime of 

 their hosts, some were undoubtedly blood-suckers. In 

 the systematic description, attention is drawn to the 

 important specific characters to be found in the 

 "hooks" which are often present, near the posterior end 

 of the body. Thirty species belonging to the following 

 ten genera are fully described : Microcotyle, Axine, 

 Octocotyle, Diclidophora, Hexacotyle, Onchocotyle, 

 Calicotyle, Monocotyle, Epibdella, and Tri^tomum. 

 While none of the geneia are new, some of them have 

 emended diagnoses, and the information about the 

 various species included in each is brought wonderfully 

 up to date. Of the thirty species, all are described as 

 new; one, Diclidophora smaris, was found in the mouth 

 cavity of Smaris -iiult^aris, taken in the Hay of Naples ; 

 all the rest are from Japan. Owing to the often very 

 imperfect descriptions given by previous describers of 

 species, it is possible that some of those described by 

 Goto may on further investigation rank as synonyms, 

 but most of them are strikingly distinctive forms. 

 Octocotyle, Uiesing, and Diclidnplwra, Diesing, have 

 been combined by many in the genus Octobothrium, F. 

 S. Leuckart ; but the author gives good reasons why 

 Diesing's genera should be retained, characterising the 

 former genus anew. The author's drawings have been 



NO. I315. VOL. 51] 



beautifully lithrgraphed; the plates have been all executed 

 at Japan, and will bear comparison with anv similar 

 work done in Europe. A very complete bibliography 

 of the literature cited is appended. We veniure to 

 suggest, that it is a duty of all biologists to send copies 

 of their published writings to the Library of the Imperial 

 University of Japan, where they will be used and 

 appreciated. 



Woman's Share in Primitive Culture. By O. T. 

 Mason, A.M., Ph.D. Pp. 2S6. (London and New 

 York: M.acmillan and Co., 1S95.) 



Anthropology— the science of man — has been sadly 

 neglected in the past, but there are signs that it will be 

 more extensively studied in the future. We believe it 

 was a president of the Anthropological Institute who 

 pointed out, a short time ago, that while such societies as 

 the Zoological, Geological, Linnean,and others were in a 

 flourishing condition, the Institute which has for its object 

 the study of man had only a membership ot three or lour 

 hundred. This strange stale of things is ditiicult to 

 account for, though probably it is due to some extent to 

 the absence of ethnological material to work upon in the 

 British Isles. It is very well known th.Tt, in the l"nited 

 States, the Bureau of Ethnology publishes most elaborate 

 reports upon anthropological lopics; but the opportunities 

 for such study in America are far greater than they are 

 here. Prof. Mason is one of the foremost workers in 

 the field of ethnology understood in its widest sense, 

 and he is particularly qualified to trace the story of the 

 part played by woman in the culture of the world. The 

 volume in which he does this is the first of an anthro- 

 pological series intended for the intelligent reader, but 

 instructive enough to satisfy the student. The author de- 

 scribes the work of woman in all the peaceful arts of life, 

 and shows that the past achievements have had much to 

 do with ihe life history of civilisation. The book is very 

 well illustrated, and is a desirable acquisition to the 

 library of every one interested in woman's work. A 

 large share ot attention is given to women of .American 

 races ; but, as the author is curator ol the Department of 

 Ethnology in the U.S. National Museum, this might 

 have been expected. 



A Text-book of Sound. By E. Catchpool, B.Sc. Pp. 

 203. (London: W. B. Clive, 1894.) 



As an elementary text-book dealing with the physical 

 processes which cause the sensation of sound, we 

 think this deserves praise. It will certainly give the 

 student the knowledge required before the more elaborate 

 treatises can be read with profit. The author wriies as 

 a well-inlormed teacher, and that is equivalent to saying 

 that he writes clearly and accurately. There are 

 numerous books on arou-.tics, but few cover exactly 

 the same ground as this, or are more suitable intro- 

 ductions to a serious study of the subject. 



Ottica. By Prof Eugenic Geleich. Pp. 576. (Milano: 

 Ulrico Hoepli, 1895.) 



This well-constructed manual will compare favourably 

 with the best elementary textbooks of optics. It is 

 attractively designed, handy in size, and scicnlifii ally 

 arranged. First the phenomena and theory of refraction, ' 

 relleclion, and dispersion are des.ribed : optical in- I 

 slruments form the subject of the second part of the i 

 book ; interference and dispersion the third part, and 

 optical phenomena ol the earth's atmosphere, the fourth 

 p.irt ; various inlcrcsling notes, and a comprehensive 

 bibliography, conclude the volume. The optics of 

 astronomical insttuments are treated much more fully 

 than is usually the case in elementary text-books. 



