

___ In addition to the well-illustrated account of the 
~ methods of wood-testing adopted by the U.S. 
Forest Service, a useful bibliography of the sub- 
_ ject, and particularly a list of less-known Ameri- 
can papers, gives value to the book. Pew Ge 
WATER REPTILES. 
Water Reptiles of the Past and Present. By 
Prof. S. W. Williston. Pp. vii+251. 
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Lon- 
don: Cambridge University Press, n.d.) Price 
I2S5. Net: 
UST as it is clear that the existing whales and 
porpoises are descended from quadrupeds 
which formerly lived on land, it is gradually being 
recognised that the marine reptiles which occupied 
their place during the Secondary Period of geo- 
logical time also had land-ancestors. Many of 
the connecting links can now be traced among 
the fossils discovered during recent years, and so | 
much progress has been made in interpreting 
them that it is interesting to pause and survey | 
the result. The original papers are scattered 
through special journals, some of them not easily 
accessible, and it is necessary to collect the essen- 
tial facts from numerous sources. We therefore 
welcome the small book by Prof. Samuel W. 
Williston, who has devoted many years to the 
successful study of these reptiles and now reviews 
the subject exhaustively with first-hand know- 
ledge. 
Though the work is mainly suited for students 
who have some preliminary acquaintance with 
vertebrate paleontology, Prof. Williston hopes 
to attract more general readers by a series of 
introductory chapters dealing with a few elemen- 
tary geological considerations, and with the struc- 
ture of the reptilian skeleton and its various 
modifications in those animals which are adapted 
for life in water. He then treats the groups of 
water reptiles in systematic order, referring to 
the few that survive as well as the great tribes 
of extinct forms. The descriptions are illustrated 
both by drawings of the skeletal remains them- 
selves and by many spirited restorations, some 
original and others by well-known authorities. 
The technical accounts of structure, indeed, are 
followed in all cases by a discussion of the in- | 
ferences they suggest as to the habits and mode 
of life of the animals in question. All the 
chapters are well up-to-date, and that on the 
Cretaceous Mosasauria is especially interesting 
from its intimate connection with the author’s 
own researches. 
As we turn over the pages of this book we are 

Marcu 4, 1915 | NATURE 3 

of water reptiles, so widely distributed in every 
sea, suddenly became extinct at the end of the 
Secondary Period, without coming in contact 
with the whales and porpoises which in later times 
took their place. Prof. Williston can only 
suggest that the races may have become effete 
and died of old age. It is evident that the 
mystery still awaits solution. ALS3 We 
MIND AND MATTER. 
(1) The Master-Key: a New Philosophy. By D. 
Blair. Ppa ante. (Wimbledon: Ashrama 
Agency, 1914.) Price 3s. 6d. net. 
(2) Essays on the Life and Work of Newton. By 
A. de Morgan, edited by P. E. B. Jourdain. 
Pp. xili+ 198. (Chicago and London: The Open 
Court Publishing Co., 1914.) Price 5s. net. 
(3) The Analysis of Sensations and the Relation 
of the Physical to the Psychical. By Dr. E. 
Mach. Translated by C. M. Williams. Pp. 
xv +380. (Chicago and London: The Open 
Court Publishing Co., 1914.) Price 6s. 6d. net. 
(4) Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. New 
series, vol. xiv. Pp. 438. (London: Williams 
and Norgate, 1914.) Price 1os. 6d. net. 
(5) The Philosophy of Change: a Study of the 
Fundamental Principle of the Philosophy of 
Bergson. By Dr. H. W. Carr. Pp. xii+210. 
(London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) 
Price 6s. net. 
(1) HE writer condemns himself by his own 
pretensions. He calls his system a 
“new philosophy,” and is writing another book— 
“The Truth about the Other World ’’—which 
“will be the first genuine Revelation ever pub- 
lished.” In the volume under notice he discusses 
all things in heaven and earth, from the solar 
spectrum, heredity, and space, to Platonism, 
hallucinations, and Vedanta. There is evidence of 
a great deal of heterogeneous and elementary 
knowledge, but all is confused and_ superficial. 
Apparently the author finds salvation in the word 
Monad—though he does not expound Leibniz— 
but his explanations do not explain much. He 
posits a “nerve-ether” which is quite different 
from the luminiferous ether, which latter is “no 
use”’ to him; and he seems to have a very poor 
opinion of the Royal Society. No doubt the 
society will survive. 
(2) These reprinted essays, written more than 
half-a-century ago, are still worth reading, both for 
their matter and their style. De Morgan was an 
able mathematician, he made careful researches 
into the details of Newton’s life and controversies. 
and he had a very characteristic wit. His treat- 
led to speculate as to why nearly all these groups | ment of Newton is respectful yet critical. Sir 
NO. 2366, VOL. 95 | 
