5IO 



NA TURE 



\_March 31, 1887 



and petro-mastoid regions ossify more slowly than in man. 

 The cranial sections unite probably in the same order as 

 in man, but generally at an earlier age, nevertheless there 

 are certain exceptions to this which are pointed out. The 

 brachycephaly of the skull of young anthropoids diminishes 

 as age advances. Elongation of the facial part of the 

 skull occurs much more rapidly than that of the antero- 

 posterior diameter of the cranial part, until the eruption 

 of the teeth. Passing on to the osteological characters 

 of the rest of the skeleton, we find that the points 

 of ossification of the borders of the vertebrae in the 

 fcetus of the anthropoids do not appear in the same 

 order as in man, as they seem to form simultaneously 

 in all the regions of the vertebral column. The 

 points of ossification of the pleurapophyses of the 

 cervical and sacral vertebra: appear later than in man. 

 This is especially the case in the sacral region of the 

 gibbon. The spinous processes of the cervical vertebrfe 

 are shorter in the fcetus and young gorilla than in the 

 adult. In the former the sacrum is broader, the coccyx 

 longer, and the sternum larger, than in the latter. The 

 different segments of the upper and lower limbs, except 

 the carpus, ossify more rapidly in the anthropoid monkeys 

 than in man ; the lower limb ossifies, however, more 

 slowly than the upper. 



The muscular anatomy of the young and adult anthro- 

 poids is fully described and compared, and presents many 

 points of considerable interest. Contrary to the opinion of 

 Bischoff, the muscles of the face are found by the author 

 to be very distinct, not only in the adult but even in the 

 fcetal state. The arrangement of the muscles of the neck, 

 fore-arm, leg, hand, and foot are particularly noteworthy, 

 especially when compared with those in man. 



The encephalon of the fcetal gorilla was found to weigh 

 28 grammes, and equalled a sixteenth part of the entire 

 weight of the body. In the fcetus of both the gorilla and 

 the gibbon the cerebellum is very small, and is completely 

 covered by the cerebrum. The relative and absolute 

 dimensions of the brain of the foetal gorilla correspond to 

 those of the human foetus at the fifth month, but in its con- 

 volutions it was equivalent to those of the human foetus 

 at the sixth month, while the frontal lobe corresponds to 

 that of a seven-months child. 



The heart of the fcetal gorilla, though absolutely smaller 

 than that of the human, is much greater in proportion to 

 the size of the animal ; it is also more voluminous than 

 that of the adult of the same species. 



The form of the hyoid bone of the anthropoid apes 

 resembles that of man more nearly in the fojtus than in 

 the adult. Its ossification takes place earlier than in man. 

 The ventricles of the larynx of the fcetal gorilla resemble 

 those of man, and are not continued into the laryngeal 

 sacs. 



The development of the dentary follicles of the gorilla 

 and gibbon takes place earlier th.m in man. The 

 eruption of the milk-teeth occurs in the same order as in 

 man, except that in the gorilla the teeth of the upper jaw 

 appear before those of the lower, that is to say, the reverse 

 of what generally obtains in man. The cxcal appendages 

 increase relatively to age in the gorilla, while in man the 

 contrary appears to be the rule. The spleen of the fcetal 

 gorilla differs in form from that of other anthropoids and 

 from that of man, and resembles more nearly the spleen 



of a carnivore. The liver of the gorilla has the four-lobed 

 type-form common to the majority of mammals, and 

 in this respect differs from that of man and the other 

 anthropoids. 



The work concludes with a chapter on the general 

 result of the author's observations, in which he confirms 

 the statement made several years ago by Huxley that the 

 structural differences between man and the Primates 

 which approach nearest to him are not greater than those 

 which exist between the latter and the other members of 

 the order of the Primates. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The Geograpltical and Geological Distribution of Animals. 

 By Angelo Heilprin, Professor of Invertebrate Pals- 

 ontology at, and Curator-in-charge of, the Academy of 

 Natural Science of Philadelphia. (London : Kegan 

 Paul, Trench, & Co., 1887.) 

 The author of this book tells us that, while anxious to 

 present to the student a work of general referen :e, wherein 

 the more salient features of the geography and geology 

 of animal forms could be sought after and readily found, 

 he also wished to call attention to the more significant 

 facts connected with the past and present distribution of 

 animal life, so as to lead to a correct conception of the 

 relations of existing faunas. The need of such a work 

 will be generally acknowledged, and, without doubt, this 

 little volume of some 400 pages does to a great extent 

 supply the need ; but it may be that the time has not 

 quite arrived for the appearance of a perfectly satis- 

 factory work on the subject. Though the record of 

 both geographical and geological distribution is a vast 

 one, still there is a vast deal more of the record yet to 

 come, and the very pages of Prof. Heilprin's work show 

 what immense additions to the facts and the deductions 

 drawn from these are based on the as yet incomplete 

 publication of the results of the Challenger Expedition. 

 When the author has these results to rely on, we find a 

 certainty of fact and a sureness of deduction which give 

 confidence to a general reader or to a student. 



The volume consists of three parts. In the first part 

 the distribution of animals throughout space is treated 

 of ; in the second the succession of life, the faunas of the 

 different geological periods, and the appearance and disap- 

 pearance of species are dealt with ; in the third the 

 present and past distribution of individual animal groups 

 is considered. On the many still debatable points the 

 author is always judicious, giving when necessary the 

 opinions both for and against ; nor, as far as we have been 

 able to judge, does he fail to call attention to difficulties 

 that surround many of the problems he has to refer to. 

 In reference to the subject of the appearance of species, 

 we observe that he regards the once burning question of 

 the animal nature of Eozoon as settled " through the 

 negative researches of King, Rowney, Julien, and Mobius, 

 the elaborate memoir of the last-named being conclusive." 

 For the class of readers for whom this work is meant, 

 a glossary of the technical terms employed would have 

 been very useful. Most of them can be learned on 

 reference to original sources, but it would have been 

 convenient to have them within the same co\er. 



Life-Histories of Plants. By Prof McAlpine. (London: 



Swan, Sonnenschein, Lowrey, & Co., 18S7.) 

 This book may be dealt with in a very few words. It 

 professes to give the essential features in the life-histories 

 of a considerable number of types. The descriptions are 

 extremely scanty, but in spite of this, room has been found 

 for many very doubtful statements. Thus we have Dodel- 

 Port's speculations as to the fertilisation of red seaweeds- 



