270 



NA TURE 



[Januar 



V 2 2, 1 



903 



en ecrivant ce petit ouvrage, que nous considerons comine 

 une Introduction a Ic'/ude dc la Chimie organique " 

 (Preface). 



How refreshing must it seem to teachers in this 

 country to meet with an elementary work on chemistry 

 containing no reference to the "Syllabus" of any Board 

 of Examinations. R. M. 



Penrose's Pictorial Annual, 1902-5. The Process Year- 

 book. An Illustrated Review of the Graphic Arts. 

 Edited by William Gamble. Pp. xvi + 136 and 56. 

 (London : A. W. Penrose and Co., Ltd., 1902.) 



THE present issue of this very handsome and interesting 

 year-book forms the eighth volume of this useful publi- 

 cation. Year by year the progress made in process work 

 is here recorded, and at each issue the high standard of 

 excellence of this book is raised. The rapid strides 

 made in three-colour work and its general application to 

 technical and artistic subjects render the present volume 

 of especial interest, and the editor has brought together 

 numerous articles and reproductions which will give the 

 reader, not only a good insight into the principles in- 

 volved, but a general idea of the excellence of the finished 

 pictures. 



As in former volumes, the engraver, printer, pub- 

 lisher, Sec, have all apparently vied with each other to 

 produce the best work, and an examination of the book 

 down to the most minute detail shows how completely 

 each has succeeded in his task. Printed on " perfection 

 quality art printing" paper, the type in the text, and the 

 illustrations, appear at their best, and in each case useful 

 details, such as description of the original process em- 

 ployed, name of printer, &c, are added. The illustrations 

 are representative of the application of process work to 

 all types of subjects, from blocks for catalogue illus- 

 trations, such as cut-glass objects, silver work, machinery, 

 &c, to others as reproductions of oil paintings, land- 

 scapes, portraits, birds' eggs, e\:c. 



Although little has yet been said about the text, the 

 articles on the various topics will be found full of useful 

 and interesting facts and experiences. The book will be 

 found a valuable addition, not only to the library of the 

 amateur or professional photographer or process worker, 

 but to those who wish to choose between different pro- 

 cesses as judged by the finished examples. As a simple 

 picture book, it should have many admirers. 



The Zoological Record for 1901. Edited by D. Sharp. 

 (London : Zoological Society, 1902.) 



YEAR by year, this invaluable publication increases in 

 bulk, the present volume being considerably thicker 

 than the one for 1900, as the latter was larger than its 

 predecessor. The task of the editor and his staff" is 

 indeed a prodigious one, and the marvel is how it is 

 completed year by year within the allotted time. That 

 shortcomings must occur here and there is, as the editor 

 admits, inevitable, but all concerned are to be congratu- 

 lated that they are so few and far between. At the con- 

 clusion of his preface, Dr. Sharp suggests that before 

 many years elapse the "Zoological Record" may come 

 to an end, owing to its place being filled by the " Inter- 

 national Catalogue of Scientific Literature." Unless, 

 however, the latter undertaking progresses at a more 

 rapid pace than at present seems to be the case, 

 naturalists will sadly miss the regular appearance of the 

 well-known russet volume shortly before Christmas, and 

 it would be a thousand pities if the publication were dis- 

 continued before it became absolutely superfluous. 

 Except a certain lack of uniformity between the different 

 sections, to which we have called attention on a previous 

 occasion, the volume before us is so carefully edited [as 

 to call for nothing in the way of criticism. 



NO. 1734, VOL. 67] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications.} 



Biology in Universities. 



In connection with an editorial article on university develop- 

 ment at the beginning of your issue of January 1, where you 

 quote a pamphlet of mine called " A Survey of the Sciences," 

 drawn up for the information of Governors of the University of 

 Birmingham, I have received a contribution to the subject from 

 Prof. Herdman, emphasising the separate inclusion of Biology 

 in addition to the specific sciences of Zoology and Botany, and 

 especially emphasising its vital importance in the scientific study 

 of Medicine. 



I would ask you, therefore, to print it as the opinion of a 

 highly competent specialist. Oliver Lodge. 



In Nature of January I, p. 193, right-hand column, middle, 

 between Ari 11 EOLOGY and Botany, I should like to have 

 seen : — 



Biology: — The fundamental science of medicine — which 

 may, in fact, be regarded as applied experimental biology. 



It is, therefore, an essential part of the preliminary training of 

 every medical student. 



It is the central, or basal, area of the natural sciences, 

 containing, as it does, the facts and principles which are common 

 to, and undergo application and further elaboraiion in, the 

 sciences zoology, botany, anatomy, physiology, pathology, 

 bacteriology, anihropology, psychology and paleontology. 



It is (or should be), moreover, a subject of general culture, 

 with many interesting applications to ordinary everyday life ; 

 and is of primary importance in philosophy bolh on account of 

 its historic connection with the work of Darwin, Herbert 

 Spencer and Huxley — biologico-philosophic work the influence 

 of which, not only upon science, but also upon many other de- 

 partments of thought it is difficult to estimate — and also because 

 of more recent developments in connection with heredity, re- 

 production, ..Vc. 



All this on the pure science or educational side. In its 

 practical applications, biology has an enormous field before it 

 in the future in connection with arts and industries, our food 

 supplies, fisheries, drainage and the metabolism of the ocean 

 — matters affecting the health of man and the prosperity of the 

 country. 



Some of these points were referred to under zoology or 

 botany, but there is so much ground common to these two 

 sciences, and they are so interwoven both in matters of theory 

 and in practical applications, that it is desirable to recognise 

 these relations under the heading biology. 



W. A. Herdman. 



University College, Liverpool, January 2. 



Genius and the Struggle for Existence. 



If the struggle for existence and survival of the fittest mean 

 anything at all, they surely mean that any quality which is 

 useful to the individual, or race, will be preserved and increased. 

 Sir Oliver Lodge, however, in his "Survey of the Sciences," as 

 reported in Nature, January 1, says : — 



" The struggle for existence, though doubtless a stimulating 

 training for the hardier and sturdy virtues, is not the right 

 atmosphere for the delicate plant called genius." 



But if genius is not evolved in the struggle for existence, then 

 it is not an advantage. In the usual phraseology of natural 

 selection, it is considered enough to say, " Such and such a 

 quality, or organ, is useful, therefore it will be evolved in the 

 struggle for existence." 



If. then, Sir Oliver Lodge is right, either (1) genius is not 

 useful, or (2) useful qualities are not — necessarily — evolved in 

 the struggle for existence. 



And if genius is — which I take leave to doubt — the tender 

 greenhouse plant represented by Sir Oliver Lodge, is it worth 

 while trying to preserve it in this — more than — bracing environ- 

 ment we call life ? So far as I can gather from the figures 

 given, the education of one whose discoveries will be of 



