4 I2 



NA TURE 



[August 30, 1883 



enough to show that the book' ought to be read by every 

 one, and therefore we shall now conclude by drawing 

 more prominent attention to sundry opinions and sugges- 

 tions, which, as Englishmen, we should desire to see our 

 Government consider and act upon. 



First, as regards the promotion of science :— 

 " The extraordinarily favourable climate and position 

 of Peradenia especially fit it for more extensive u,e from 

 a scientific point of view as a botanical station. In the 

 same way as our voung zoologists find the recently esta- 

 blished zoological stations on the sea coast (at Naples, 

 Roscnff, Brighton, Trieste, &c.) of inestimable value tor 

 their deeper scientific studies and experiments, a years 

 residence in such a botanical station as Peradenia would 

 trive a young botanist more experience and work than he 

 could obtain in ten years under the various unfavourable 

 conditions at home. Hitherto, less has been done in the 

 tropical zones than elsewhere for such establishments for 

 study and experiment, though they would be exceptionally 

 beneficial If the English Government would establish 

 and maintain such a station for botany at Peradenia, and 

 one for zoology at Galle-in the charming bungalow, for 

 instance, belonging to CaptBayley which is admirably 

 suited to such a purpose [and would be sold by the owner 

 to effect ill— they would be doing signal service to science, 

 as ttaev have already done by the Challenger Expedition 

 and other great undertakings— and once more put to 

 shame the great Continental States of Europe, vvhospend 

 their money chiefly on breechloaders and big guns. 



In reading this passage all true Englishmen should feel 

 regret that their Government is not deserving of the meed 

 of praise which the courtesy of the writer bestows. Seeing 

 that we are the great maritime and colonising power, it is 

 nothing short of a public disgrace that we are without a 

 zoological station upon any of our thousands of miles of 

 coast, and that hitherto there is no prospect of our 

 escaping from the sarcasm (whether conscious or un- 

 conscious) wherewith the national seat of "deeper 

 scientific studies and experiments " in marine biology is 

 here specified as Brighton. Is it too much to hope that 

 the Fisheries Exhibition may at length help to open the 

 eyes of a Liberal Ministry to the importance of doing 

 something in this direction ? 



Only in one particular does the English rule in India 

 fall under censure, and this has reference to the atrocious 

 treatment of the stage-coach horses. The scenes de- 

 scribed are certainly monstrous beyond imagination- 

 flogging by the whole village, dragging by the nostrils, 

 wringing by the ears, and burning with torches. Truly, 

 as Haeckel observes : " It is difficult to conceive how the 

 English Government, which is generally so strict in its 

 arrangements and discipline, has not long ago put an end 

 to this brutality to animals, and more particularly ex- 

 tended its protection to the wretched horses that serve the 

 ' Royal Mail Coach.' " Here is surely something for the 

 anti-vivisectionists to memorialise upon with benefit. 



We cannot take leave of this delightful book without 

 congratulating the translator on the beautiful English 



into which she has rendered it. 



George J. Romanes 



pages, with 168 well-executed woodcuts, mainly repro- 

 duced from Klein and Noble Smith's " Atlas of Histo- 

 logy " or the " Handbook for the Physiological Labora- 

 tory,'" intercalated in the text. It is not too much praise 

 to say that the information in this little volume is gene- 

 rally very complete, quite up to date, and written in a 

 concise, though, at the same time, thoroughly clear style. 

 Dr Klein wisely omits all reference to the titles of 

 works and papers, introducing where necessary simply 

 the name of the discoverer of, or observer most inti- 

 mately associated with, the structure referred to. Where 

 different opinions exist, this is obviously convenient, and 

 the right firing to do ; but why on page 7 'he names of 

 fifteen histologists, followed by the words • and many 

 others;' should be given, it is difficult to understand, 

 especially as they are quoted with reference to the in- 

 direct division of nuclei or Karyokinesis, of which every 

 worker at histology must have seen many examples. 



In a work like the present, where all usually received 

 ideas are given, it is curious to find that no reference is 

 made to Schafer's with regard to striated muscle. Surelj 

 this cannot be an accidental omission, especially as Hay- 

 craft is twice quoted. , 



That the action of tannic acid on human red cor- 

 puscles is not described in the text, although figured (p. 9> 

 fig. ga), is clearly an oversight, as that of boracic acid on 

 newt's 'red corpuscles is both figured and described. In 

 future editions it will be convenient if the same numbers 

 be used in the text as in the diagram when describing the 

 different parts of the kidney tubules, constant reference 

 to the description of fig. 1 33 being now necessary. 



With the exception of the above minor details un- 

 qualified praise must be given, and the "Elements of 

 Histology," which is really a very complete manual, 

 should be used and re-used by every student and prac- 

 titioner of medicine who wishes to acquire a sound know- 

 ledge of the normal histology of man. J . w . ^. 



OUR BOOK 

 Elements of Histology. By I 



SHELF 



Klein, M.D., F.R.S., &C. 

 (London"': Cassell .and Co., 1883) 

 This, which is the first of Cassell's "Manuals for 

 Students of Medicine," contains 342 closely-printed 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions expressed 

 by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, 

 or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts, 

 No notice is taken oj anonymous communications. _ 



\The Editor urgently requests correspondents to keep their tetters 

 as short as possible. The pressure on his space is so great 

 that it is impossible othenvise to insure the appearance even 

 of communications containing interesting and novel facts.\ 



"Elevation and Subsidence" again 

 A LETTER appears yesterday, again criticising Mr. Startle 

 Gardner's general views about pressure, in the same sense as was 

 done by myself a fortnight ago. But, referring to that gentle- , 

 man's opinion that pressure can render rocks molten or fluid, 

 Mr Young goes on to remark : " Is not the supposition the 

 exact reverse of what is really the case, viz. that not only does 

 pressure not liquefy rocks, but actually prevents their melting 

 at a temperature at which they would melt were the pressure 

 removed'" Your correspondent, offering this remark with a 

 query, seems as if his mind was not quite made up on the 

 subject ; and with reason ; for it must, I think, be considered at 

 present an open question whether the temperature of rocky 

 matter is, or is not, raised by pressure. . 



Sir W. Thomson stated, in an address to the Geological 

 Society of Glasgow in 1878, that certain experiments by Dr 

 Henry Muirhead and Mr. Joseph Whitley seemed to show that 

 iron copper, brass, whinstone, and gramte are less dense m the 

 solid than in the liquid state at the melting temperature. If so, 

 pressure would assist in liquefying these substances. On the 

 other hand, some observations of Mr. Johnston- Lavis, made on 

 lava at Vesuvius, point in the opposite direction. Granted that 

 the earth is, as a whole, extremely rigid, we cannot gather from 

 that fact any certain information about the ellect of pressure on 

 "rocky matter," when near the melting temperature. W e do 

 not know whether the nucleus of the earth consists of matter 

 which could, under any conditions, be directly °"™>** "$ 

 Surface rock; nor yet do we know anything certain about its 



