DEcEMBER 24, 1896| 
NATURE 
Let 
Our students, indeed, would seem to have no time to be 
interested ; all they demand is something that will “ pay,” 
when the examiners are met. And the result is,as might 
be expected, that when the goal at which they have 
aimed is reached, with memories ruined and enthusiasm 
killed, they are helpless in the presence of the simplest 
scientific problem, and have yet to learn the very elements 
of the methods of attack. What they have been taught 
is not how to gain knowledge, but how to undergo 
examination. 
Turning to the lectures themselves, and regarding 
them from the point of view for which they were de- 
signed, namely to awaken enthusiasm for the scientific 
method and to stimulate research, it must be admitted 
that they have a somewhat unequal value. Perhaps the 
most successful are those—such as that by Dr. Locy, on 
“The Primary Segmentation of the Vertebrate Head ”— 
which are simple, straightforward statements of the re- 
searches upon which their authors are themselves engaged, 
and in which they are, therefore, themselves most keenly 
interested. And without expressing an opinion on the 
morphological theories which the author advances, we 
would single out this lecture by Dr. Locy, as being likely 
for another reason to be specially instructive to the student 
who is feeling his way to investigations of his own. No 
idea is more frequently met with amongst those who have 
just completed their academic training, than that our 
knowledge of common things—of things which are easily 
procurable and, as it were, ready to hand—is complete, 
or, at any rate, as complete as it can be made with 
the methods at present available ; and as a consequence 
of this idea it is presumed that only by seeking for 
strange objects in strange places, or by the employment 
of some new and complicated method of research, is 
there any prospect of adding to the knowledge which 
already exists. Now, as Prof. Kingsley points out in his 
lecture on the subject in this volume, the question of the 
segmentation of the vertebrate head has occupied the 
attention of leading anatomists since the beginning of 
the present century, and perhaps no problem could be 
mentioned which has been more thoroughly investigated 
and discussed without a satisfactory conclusion being 
arrived at. On the other hand, no vertebrate embryo— 
not even that of the chick—has been more studied than 
the Elasmobranch embryo. Notwithstanding these two 
considerations, we here have Dr. Locy bringing forward 
a theory of the segmentation of the head, based very 
largely on a minute study of many stages of early 
embryos of Acanthias, chiefly in surface views. We 
could almost hope that Dr. Locy’s theories may prove to 
be correct, for the sake of the valuable lesson which his 
success would teach. 
In “ Bibliography : a Study of Resources,” Prof. Minot 
treats of a real difficulty which invariably confronts the 
young investigator at the outset of his work, and about 
which he is accustomed to receive little advice or help. 
The various methods are explained by which, amongst 
the vast mass of biological writings, the literature dealing 
with any particular subject may be most readily and 
completely discovered, and many practical hints on 
bibliography are given, which should prove exceedingly 
helpful to those for whom they have been brought 
together. 
NO. 1417, VOL. 55 | 
Prof. W. B. Scott’s remarks on “ Paleontology as a 
Morphological Discipline” contain many suggestive ideas, 
| and Prof. Osborne gives some interesting ‘“ Reminis- 
cences of Huxley.” In reading these we cannot but 
call to mind how large a share Huxley took in establish- 
ing that system of biological teaching which, as at 
present carried out in this country, seems to call for 
serious condemnation ; again an illustration of how a 
system, in its origin the embodiment of the thought of a 
master mind, may, in the hands of those that follow, 
become the mere corpse of an idea, better put from 
sight. 
The least successful portions of the volume are the 
two lectures by Dr. Dolbear, entitled ‘“ Explanations, 
or How Phenomena are Interpreted,” and “ Known Re- 
lations between Mind and Matter.” These are of a more 
or less metaphysical nature, and deal with some of the 
fundamental problems connected with the human mind 
and human knowledge. In treating such problems, 
especially before an assembly of students, the primary 
conditions of success must be that the propositions 
brought forward are stated in clear and definite 
language, without confusion of terms, and that there is 
not the slightest suspicion of any confusion of thought. 
That the lecturer cannot be congratulated upon having 
accomplished this, the following quotation is sufficient 
to show :— 
“The spectroscope, an instrument for determining 
whether matter is solid or gaseous, when turned towards 
the sky showed that there were vast numbers of gaseous 
masses there and in many degrees of condensation. 
This discovery was held to corroborate the idea of Kant 
and Laplace, so that to-day there is no astronomer who 
does not hold the view that the Solar system as we see 
it to-day is a growth, that it was not made as it is, and 
that gravity with the simple laws of motion are sufficient 
in themselves to organise the Solar system as we find it, 
and an explanation of it is an exposition of how these 
factors brought it about.” 
We must be pardoned for expressing a doubt as to 
whether the students derived much benefit from these 
remarks. 
Looking, however, at the lectures contained in this 
volume, as a whole, they must be regarded as possessing 
a very considerable value, not chiefly for what they 
themselves contain, but more especially as representing 
a movement towards a truer method of biological 
teaching, which cannot be too highly commended. 
A STUDY IN SYMBOLISM. 
The Buddhist Praying-wheel: a Collection of Material 
bearing upon the Symbolism of the Wheel and Circular 
Movements in Custom and Religious Ritual. By 
William Simpson. Pp. viii + 303. (London: Mac- 
millan and Co., 1896.) 
ANY people have seen a Buddhist praying-wheel, 
a small cylinder filled with written or printed 
prayers, and either surrounded by an outer case and 
turned by a twirl of a spindle, or else swinging round a 
spindle held in the hand. But besides these hand pray- 
ing-machines, which so often find their way to Europe 
as curiosities, there are larger forms of the same instru- 
ment of devotion in the temples and villages of Thibet. 
