NATURE 



{April 2t^, 1872 



ject on which interest has lately so much revived in this 

 countiy, and on which we hope before long to see a 

 treatise by competent hands. Nor would it be fair to 

 compare this " School Manual " with the admirable 

 " Lessons in Elementary Physiology " of Prof. Huxley. 

 The latter, though intended for boys' and girls' schools, 

 is only of use in the few instances in which dissection 

 and microscopic anatomy are taught ; and its chief value 

 is for University men who do not specially take up 

 Biology, and as the best introduction to the subject for 

 medical students. But Dr. Lankester addresses the 

 wider circle of the general public. He shows in the In- 

 troduction how an elementary knowledge of the functions 

 of the body and of the rules of health may be taught in 

 primary schools ; and proceeds to demonstrate the advan- 

 tage of this knowledge to statesmen, clergymen, lawyers, 

 architects, newspaper writers, common councilmen, and 

 artisans. Perhaps the most important part of this intro- 

 duction is that in which the author urges the importance 

 of some knowledge of what is necessary to health for 

 women in all stations of life. A skilful teacher would be 

 able to teach girls of average intelligence a large part, 

 and that the most valuable, of the contents of this 

 Manual. They would probably learn it more readily 

 than boys, .and when all memory of the tissues and 

 their names had passed away, it may be hoped that the 

 dogmatic injunctions and prohibitions on food and air 

 and drains and clothing would, at least in part, survive. 



The first chapter contains a fair sketch of the con- 

 stituents of the human body ; the second deals with food, 

 and gives sensible advice on many points ; but here 

 there are marks of imperfect adaptation of Liebig's theories 

 to more recent facts. The third chapter, on Digestion, 

 is also clear and practical. The next on the Circulation 

 is too technical for the purpose of the book, and might, 

 we think, be relieved of many anatomical terms. The 

 two which follow on Respiration and the Skin, are chiefly 

 sanitary, and might be read with advantage even 

 by those ignorant of physiology. In the seventh 

 chapter, on Movement, Dr. Lankester gives a 

 very uncertain sound on the subject of boat-racing 

 (pp. 76 and 77), in the former passage going so far as to 

 assert that " in all gymnastic exercises competition in 

 feats of strength should be avoided." The public have 

 been already frightened as much as they are likely to be 

 by certain letters on the dangers of boat-racing, which 

 appear at intervals in the Times newspaper. It may be 

 said of this, as of other athletic sports, that when com- 

 petition is avoided gymnastics will cease to be practised. 

 It is surely better to attempt wisely to regulate these 

 contests than to condemn what are just as valuable or as 

 injurious as competitive examinations in mental athletics. 

 The last two chapters of this manual, which deal with 

 the difficult subjects of the nervous system and the 

 senses, are pleasantly written, .and give much useful in- 

 formation ; but there are more errors here than in the 

 rest of the book. Thus the decussation of nerve fibres is 

 made to take place in the corpus callosion, the arachnoid 

 is described as a " spongy membrane," and the pathology 

 and causes of apoplexy given on the same page are not 

 correct. Again, the physical cause of short sight is not 

 the cornea being too rounded, but the whole eyeball being 

 too long, and if the reader " looks into a living human 



eye, through the pupil," as directed in p. 104, he w-ill be 

 disappointed of the promised result. In these as in other 

 particulars the work would have been better if the waiter 

 had taken more pains. Beside a number of curious mis- 

 prints, there are several minor inaccuracies scattered 

 through the book, which a competent physiologist would 

 correct in looking through it. Only two lines of poetry 

 from .Shakspeare and Milton occur, and both are mis- 

 quoted. Similar inaccuracies are to be found in the 

 classification of the animal kingdom printed at the end of 

 the volume, with which it appears to have no very close 

 connection. The glossary, on the other hand, and the \ 

 questions for examination, will probably be found of prac- 

 tical use. The tables of the ultimate and proximate con- 

 stituents of the body, also given in the Appendix, are too 

 exact to be correct, and the same may be said of that 

 showing the daily supply and waste. Moreover, I2lb. of 

 fat would make but a meagre man ; and 310Z. of water is 

 more than there is reason to suppose that the lungs 

 excrete. The woodcuts which have been added to the 

 present edition are taken from well-known, chiefly French, 

 sources ; they are roughly reproduced, but answer their 

 purpose well enough. 



In a future edition, which we hope will be called for, it 

 would be well to restore the original title of the work, 

 and correct some of the inaccuracies we have referred to. 

 It might also be desirable to give fuller directions on the 

 choice and preparation of food, and especially of the food 

 suitable for infants and invalids. A chapter on the ge leral 

 management of a sick-room as to warming, ventilation 

 (now often carried to injurious excess), feeding, disinfec- 

 tion, &c., would also be a valuable addition. A short and 

 admirable pamphlet, issued a short time ago by Dr. 

 Bridges (" A Catechism of Health, adapted for Primary 

 Schools," 1870), contains just those points of sanitary 

 knowledge which are most important, and Dr. Lankester's 

 experience as a coroner would be of great service (as it 

 has already been) in enabling him to enlarge upon these 

 most pressing topics, and to illustrate them by well -chosen 

 examples. P. S. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



yahrbuch der kaiscrlicli-koiiiglichcn (^cologischcu Reich- 

 saiistalf, xxi. Band. Nro. 4 ; October, November, Decem- 

 ber. (Vienna, 1871.) 

 Dr. Neumayr occupies the greater portion of this num- 

 ber of the '' Jahrbuch " with the third part of his elaborate 

 " Jurastudien." In this paper he describes what he calls 

 " der pcnninische Klippenzug," a name derived from 

 Penninbcrge, near Szczawnica, on the borders of Western 

 Galicia and Hungary. The structure of this region is 

 treated of at considerable extent. A long list of some 

 two hundred and fifty papers, notices, &c., accompanies 

 the memoir. Herr Franz Toula gives some account of 

 the Randgcbirges, near Karlsburg and Rodaun ; and the 

 work done in the Chemical Laboratory of the Institute is 

 described by Karl Ritter v. Hauer. The mineralogical 

 communications which accompany the "Jahrbuch " con- 

 tain, amongst other papers, one by C. W. C. Fuchs, on the 

 mechanical and chemical changes which lava undergoes in 

 passing from the fluid to the solid state ; and another by 

 G. Tschermak on the problems of mineralogical chemis- 

 try. We have also descriptions of various minerals by 

 Prof. Zirkel, Victor v. Lang, and Richard v. Drasche, and 

 a number of miscellaneous " notices." 



