November io, 1S98] 



NA TURE 



27 



Of these (i) is far too hard for any preparatory grade ; 

 (2) is a fine derangement of symbols, wholly unlike any- 

 thing that occurs in practice (properly so called) ; (3) is 

 a miserable trap, presumably set for the purpose of 

 inducing the candidates to waste half an hour in work- 

 ing out the products ; in (4), if you guess that "the" 

 value is o, and are handy with your dodges, you will 



score heavily, otherwise ! ; (5) and (6) speak for 



themselves. Other examples, equally absurd, may be 

 found by the dozen in the "Explicit Algebra"; in fact, 

 if Mr. O'Dea has made a fair selection, it may be inferred 

 that the Irish Government papers in algebra are oc- 

 casionally very far from being suitable for the purposes 

 for which they are supposed to be designed. How can 

 teachers, working for a grant, be expected to teach 

 algebra rationally, w-hen the test that is applied to their 

 pupils consists of a silly medley of questions, some 

 threadbare and stereotyped, and others merely puzzling 

 and artificial ; while, with the exception, perhaps, of a 

 couple of problems to be solved liy equations, no attempt 

 is made to gauge the candidate's reasoning powers ? 



Meanwhile My Lords the Commissioners of National 

 Education in Ireland refuse to budge, in spite of the 

 overwhelming verdict of competent opinion, nay in 

 defiance of the unanimous protest of their own inspectors 

 (see the Mancliester Guardian for September 19, p. 7). 

 No doubt their precious system works smoothly enough 

 from their point of view ; the papers are set on traditional 

 lines, the marks obtained are neatly tabulated, and the 

 grants and scholarships impartially distributed accord- 

 ingly ; how can any one, they may ask, reasonably object 

 to such an obviously fair and practical procedure ? And 

 so the costly, wasteful, and inefficient machinery con- 

 tinues to grind ; for all the world like a mill devised to 

 scatter the flour and preserve the husk and bran. 



G. B. M. 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE VERTEBRATA. 

 Syllabus of Lectures on the Vertebrata. By Prof. E. D. 



Cope. Pp. xxxvi -I- 136. (Philadelphia: University of 



Pennsylvania, 1898.) 

 A Classification of Vertebrata, Recent and Extinct. By 



Dr. H. Gadow. Pp. xvii 4- 82. (London : Adam and 



Charles Black, 1898.) 



AN almost pathetic interest attaches to the former 

 of these works, since it is the last scientific com- 

 munication which Prof. Cope was able to make to the 

 world, and \vas sent to press only a few days before his 

 •death. Its passage through the press was supervised by 

 Prof. Osborn, who has added, by way of an introduction, 

 an account of the life and works of the late Professor. 

 The " Syllabus of Lectures," as it now appears, is a 

 classification of the Vertebrata slightly expanded, and 

 constitutes an elaboration of the scheme which Prof 

 Cope propounded some years ago in the American 

 Naturalist. 



The fertility which Prof. Cope has always exhibited 

 for inventing new names is here seen to perfection, 

 though it will probably be regarded with some con- 

 sternation by the rising generation of students. Tables 

 are given showing the stratigraphical range of the chief 

 NO. 151 5, VOL. 59] 



divisions, and the illustrations, though many of them 

 crude, are a useful addition. 



Ichthyologists who are conversant with Prof. Cope's 

 works will not be surprised to find the Ostracoderms 

 grouped with the Cyclostomes, but the definite inclusion 

 of the Tinamous with the Ratite birds will find little 

 support among ornithologists. Many of the expressions 

 used are ambiguous, and even misleading. The urostyle 

 of the Anura, being situated behind the sacral vertebra, 

 cannot be formed of united lumbosacral vertebrae (p. 43), 

 and the statements concerning the absence of median 

 fins in Batrachia (p. 12), and the freedom of the palato- 

 pterygoid arch in the Dipnoi (p. 17), require explanation. 



The editing of the work, moreover, is not above 

 criticism, Serpentcs and Opiiidia occurring indifferently, 

 and on the same page, as the ordinal name of the snakes 

 (p. 75). The oldest multituberculate mammals are said 

 to occur in the " Trias of South Africa in the Karoo 

 Beds," (p. 103)— evidently a tacit reference to Tritil- 

 odon — andyet Tritilodonis classed with the Gomphodont 

 reptiles on page 65. 



Dr. Gadow's book is more likely to find favour with 

 European students, the names given to the groups being 

 more familiar. The convenience of the reader is studied 

 by leaving the left-hand pages blank for annotations. 

 The geological range of the extinct forms, and the 

 geographical distribution of the recent ones are given ; 

 and the glossary, showing the derivation of most of the 

 Latin and Greek names, is both useful and accurate. 



Dr. Gadow appears to be chary of accepting taxonomic 

 innovations, yet loath to ignore them, and the result is 

 not unfrequently incongruous. He does not support 

 Cope so far as to place the Ostracoderms with the 

 Cyclostomes, but creates for them a new and unnecessary 

 super-class, the " Hypostomata" (p. 4), equal in value to, 

 and intermediate between, the Cyclostomes and the 

 Gnathostomes. And again, while not bold enough to 

 follow Hubrecht in including Tarsius with the apes, he 

 yet goes so far as to give it a sub-order all to itself 



(p. 53). 



The diagnoses are not always full enough to be eflec- 

 tive (that of the Prosauria, p. 17, not excluding the 

 Geckoes) ; and even the most elementary student of 

 zoology will object to the statement (p. 43) that the 

 tibia and fibula are separate in the rabbit. 



The book, however, in spite of some blemishes, will 

 prove a useful addition to the student's library. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 First Priitcifiles of Electricity and Magnetism. By 



C. H. W. "Biggs. Pp. 481 -f XV. (London: Biggs 



and Co.) 

 This book is intended, it is stated in the author's preface, 

 for beginners in practical work, and is an expansion of a 

 series of papers which appeared in the Electrical 

 Engineer. The author considers it necessary to lead off 

 with a chapter on atoms, molecules, mass, force, weight 

 (and the fundamental units), work and energy. The 

 idea evidently is to convey to the beginner information 

 in a more or less familiar and chatty style, and the book 

 is certainly readable. We wish we could say that the 

 information was always quite correct. .'\s containing 

 examples of well-meant but inaccurate statements, we 

 may refer to the explanation (.') of the different gravit- 



