March 2, 1905] 



NA TURE 



411 



Bradley's maternal uncle. The reputation of Pound 

 has been overshadowed by that of his more brilliant, 

 but perhaps less versatile, nephew, and it is most 

 desirable to give the uncle his proper position. The 

 whole chapter constitutes a most delightful piece of 

 biography. 



The accidental discovery of a " new star " does not 

 differ materially from that of a planet, and the author 

 admits that this fourth chapter might very well have 

 been the first of the series, but we agree with him 

 that it is not a matter upon which to lay any par- 

 ticular stress. The particular discovery is only a peg 

 on which to hang the remarks that the author wishes 

 to make on certain subjects. In this case the dis- 

 covery of the " new star " in Gemini, at Oxford, by 

 means of photography, serves to introduce an account 

 of the International Chart of the Heavens, and some 

 remarks connected with the behaviour of Nova Persei. 

 This chapter presents a careful examination of the 

 facts and suggestions that have been brought to light 

 by observation. The history of Schwabe and his 

 work on sun-spots do not call for any particular 

 remark. The chapter is not long, and it covers the 

 ground very satisfactorily. In the last lecture. Prof. 

 Turner gives an account of the variation of latitude, 

 wherein he is seen quite at his best. The subject is 

 not so hackneyed as some, of the other selections, 

 but to speak to Americans of the work accomplished 

 by Mr. Chandler was, no doubt, inspiring, and the 

 successive steps by which Mr. Chandler established 

 his case are described with clear, logical sequence. 

 Usually the author ends his lecture by pointing out 

 what particular lessons are to be drawn from the dis- 

 covery under examination, and they generally amount 

 to this, that there is no line of research, however 

 apparently unimportant or monotonous, which can be 

 safely neglected. Some inquiries seem to offer a 

 more immediate prospect of success, such as the 

 establishment of observatories in the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere, to make accurate observations on the motion 

 of the Pole ; but at the same time unexpected dis- 

 coveries may lie in a direction precisely opposite to 

 that indicated by the most educated opinion at 

 present available. The conclusion may be obvious, 

 but the remark is not unnecessar}'. To be led too 

 strictly by authority is unwise, to neglect the teach- 

 ings of experience is a crime. W. E. P. 



ZOOLOGICAL RESULTS. 

 Zoological Results based on Material from New 

 Britain, New Guinea, Loyalty Islands and Else- 

 2vhere, collected during the Years 1895, 1896, and 

 1897, by Arthur Willey, D.Sc.Lond. Parts i.-vi. 

 Pp. vi + 830; illustrated. (Cambridge: University 

 Press.) 



THIS splendid series of " zoological results " 

 should have been recognised at an earlier date 

 in our columns, but the six volumes have appeared 

 through a lustrum of five years, and the fine series of 

 memoirs has mounted up to a total which baffles re- 

 viewing. As Balfour student of the University of 

 Cambridge, Arthur Willey went in 1S94 to the Pacific 

 NO. 1844, VOL. 71] 



in search of the eggs of tlie pearly nautilus. He found 

 these, but so much more of great interest, t'.^. as to 

 Peripatus, Amphio.xus, Balanoglossus, Ctenoplana, 

 that his tenure of the Balfour scholarship was on two 

 successive occasions judiciously extended for a year 

 bevond the allotted triennium. In his arduous but 

 well rewarded explorations, Dr. Willey was aided by 

 the Government Grant Committee of the Royal 

 .Society, who may congratulate themselves on the fact 

 that the money at their disposal was never better spent 

 than on this enterprise. It has seldom been the happy 

 fortune of a single zoologist to bring together in a 

 short span such rich material, including some of the 

 most interesting zoological types. 



In part i. Dr. Willey describes the structure and 

 development of Peripatus novae-britanniae, n.sp., and 

 in so doing throws some fresh light on the hetero- 

 geneity of the class Onychophora, which this 

 "delightful creature" represents. Dr. Paul Mayer 

 describes a new caprellid ; Mr. G. A. Boulenger dis- 

 cusses a very rare sea-snake (Aipysurus annalatus) 

 from the South Pacific; Mr. R. I. Pocock reports on 

 the centipedes, millipedes, scorpions, Pedipalpi, and 

 spiders ; and Dr. Sharp gives an account of the 

 phasmids, with notes on their remarkable eggs. 



In part ii. Prof. Hickson reports on Millepora, show- 

 ing that the single species (M. alcicornis) illustrates 

 that great variability in the form of growth which is 

 a characteristic feature of the genus. Prof. Jeffrey 

 Bell discusses the echinoderms (other than holo- 

 thurians, which are dealt with separately by Mr. F. P. 

 Bedford). Mr. Arthur E. Shipley reports on the sipucu- 

 loids, Mr. J. Stanley Gardiner on the solitary corals and 

 on the post-embryonic development of Cycloseris, Mr. 

 Beddard on the earthworms, and Miss Isa L. Hiles on 

 the Gorgonacea, which includes some interesting new- 

 species. 



In part iii. Dr. Gadow has an interesting essay on 

 orthogenetic variation in the shells of Chelonia, that 

 is to say, cases in which the variations from the normal 

 type seem to lie in the direct line of descent ; Dr. 

 Willey describes three new species of Enteropneusta, 

 and develops several theories, e.g. that the gill-slits 

 arose originally as perforations in the inter-annular 

 grooves for the aeration of the gonads which occupied 

 the dividing ranges; and Mr. A. E. Shipley reports 

 on the echiurids, making a welcome attempt to revise 

 the group and to determine its geographical range. 



In part iv. Mr. Stanley Gardiner describes the struc- 

 ture of a supposed new species of Coenopsammia from 

 Lifu, and comes inter alia to the striking conclusion 

 that the so-called endoderm in Anthozoa, giving rise 

 to the muscular bands and generative organs, and 

 performing also the excretory functions, is homologous 

 with the mesoderm of Triploblastica. In terms of the 

 layer theory, of whatever value it may be, the actino- 

 zoon polyp must be regarded as a triploblastic form. 

 Dr. Sharp reports on insects from New Britain, Mr. 

 L. A. Borradaile on Stomatopoda and Macrura from 

 the South Seas, Mr. Walter E. CoUinge on the slugs, 

 Mr. E. G. Philipps on the Polyzoa, Miss Laura Roscoe 

 Thornely on the hydroid zoophytes, and Mr. J. J. 

 Lister describes a remarkable type of a new family 



