AucusT 6, 1914] 
583 
preservation of many items in the Leeds collec- 
tion. 
At the epoch of the Oxford Clay pliosaurs (to- 
gether with their cousins the elasmosaurs) and 
the marine crocodiles of the families Teleosauride 
and Geosauride were at the zenith of their de- 
velopment, and therefore too advanced to afford 
clues to the relationships and origin of the order 
to which they pertain. Nevertheless, the point is 
not passed over by Dr. Andrews, who, after re- 
jecting the theory of an affinity between plesio- 
saurs and pliosaurs on the one hand and tortoises 
and turtles on the other, supports the opinion 
that the two former are descended from the carni- 
vorous mammal-like reptiles of the Permian and 
Trias. As regards Oxfordian crocodiles, the 
author merely affirms that while the stereosaurs 
(Veleosauridz) are derived from the mystriosaurs 
of the Lias, the species of Metriorhynchus (Geo- 
sauride), on account of differences in the structure 
of the base of the skull, had a different origin. 
As the Oxfordian crocodiles appear to have 
been more aquatic than any existing members of 
their order, while the contemporary ichthyosaurs, 
elasmosaurs, and pliosaurs were completely so, the 
Jurassic seas must have swarmed with a medley of 
reptilian forms of life, in striking contrast to the 
more uniform type presented by their cetacean 
supplanters of to-day. With their large heads and 
short necks, the Oxfordian plesiosaurs appear to 
have been better adapted to a pelagic existence 
than the contemporary elasmosaurians; and it is 
of interest to note that in respect of food they 
appear to have presented a parallelism to ceta- 
ceans, some having subsisted on cephalopods, 
while others attacked and devoured larger and 
more formidable prey. mL. 
The Future of Education. By F. C. C. Egerton. 
Pp. 303200.-onden: G. Bell and@Sons, Ltd., 
1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 
Tuis is a book provocative of serious thought in 
these days of educational misgiving and unrest. 
The author raises a strong indictment against 
present educational aims and methods, and ad- 
duces in support of his contentions some extra- 
ordinary incidents which have come within his 
immediate experience. 
‘ Especially is he wroth with our system of ele- 
mentary education, and declares with emphasis :— 
“There is only one word that adequately describes 
the state of education in this country, and that is 
‘chaos,’ and further remarks that “as a sys- 
tem it is absolutely rotten from beginning to end,” 
and that “what is said with regard to the elemen- 
tary school applies with nearly equal force to the 
secondary school—the same narrowness of out- 
look, the same lack of adjustment to the require- 
ments of life, the same unreality and artificiality 
characterises both types of schools.” 
He declares that “our organisation is entirely 
disjointed. Each elementary school is conducted 
haphazard, each secondary school is a law unto 
itself, and the public schools and universities go 
their own way, good or bad.” The only comfort 
we receive is in the fact that “it is quite true that 
NO. 2336, VOL. 93] 
NATURE 
other countries stand in exactly the same posi- 
tion.” 
Much stress is properly laid upon the import- 
ance of the elementary school, public and private, 
through which ninety-five out of every hundred 
men and women pass. ‘It is the hope of the 
country, and it has in its power to lay the founda- 
tions of many noble lives.” The writer condemns 
formal and disciplinary methods of education, and 
directs strong attention to Montessorian aims and 
methods, and the need for the child to be allowed 
fully to realise itself. In spite of some extrava- 
gance of statement, the book is well worthy of 
serious study. Nfl gee 
Coast Sand Dunes, Sand Spits and Sand Wastes. 
By iG).O2 Case.) Pp) xi-pr62., 9(London': St, 
Bride's Press; tds, 1914.) / Piece gs.-net. 
THE object of this book, as stated by the author 
in the preface, is to direct attention to the advan- 
age of controlling the blown sand dunes on the 
sea-coast so as to make them act as a protection 
to the land behind from erosion by the sea; to 
prevent them from advancing inland and destroy- 
ing existing vegetation, and to enable sand wastes 
where they exist to be reclaimed and planted with 
trees. : 
The book does not contain any, or very little, 
information that is not already given in the work 
on “The Sea Coast” published in Longman’s 
Engineering Series, or in the report of the Royal 
Commission on Coast Erosion. The information 
on the subject dealt with is, however, given in a 
handy form, and will be found useful and in- 
structive to those interested in coast geology or 
having charge of land bordering on the sea shore. 
The subjects dealt with are: the area of land 
covered by sand dunes in Europe, the transporta- 
tion of sand by wind action and formation of 
dunes, description of existing dunes in this and 
other countries, devastation caused by inland 
movement of dunes, methods for preventing dunes 
moving inland, protective works for face of dunes, 
and the reclamation of sand wastes. 
Notes on the Blue-Green Algae. By Harold 
Wager. Pp. 48. (London: A. Brown and 
Sons, Ltd., 1914.) Price 2s. 6d. net. 
Tus little book should be of considerable service 
to those who desire to study systematically this 
group of plants, which is characterised by the 
presence of a bluish-purple colouring matter, 
phycocyanin, in addition to chlorophyll, in the 
cells. The cell-membrane is not composed of 
cellulose and glycogen takes the place of starch 
in the protoplasm. Mr. Wager first gives a 
eeneral introduction on the structure, reproduc- 
tion, and classification of the group, then keys to 
the orders and families, a key to the genera of 
the Oscillatoriacee, and finally a key to those 
species of Oscillatoria and Phormidium which are 
fairly well determined. In the latter it would 
have been of service if the localities in which they 
have been found tad been mentioned. The book 
concludes with a glossary and references to mono- 
graphs and blank pages for notes. 
