4 NATURE 
[Marcu 7, 1912 
edition is, however, so richly illustrated by excel- 
lent maps and sections that the bool is complete 
within itself. The German edition of the part 
here translated is illustrated by one plate and 
twenty-three figures. To these, M. de Margerie 
has added three plates and ror figures, and, as 
many of them have been redrawn for this edition, 
they are often clearer than the originals. More- 
over, many new additional references have been 
added and occasional, explanatory notes, which 
are all enclosed within square brackets. Amongst 
these additions the bibliography of the Caucasus 
and the footnotes on Algeria are especially useful. 
Among the most important of the new illustra- 
tions is a valuable coloured geological map of the 
western Atlas. M. de Margerie’s edition forms 
an atlas of diagrammatic sketch maps of the 
countries discussed. The maps are artistically 
excellent, but they sometimes follow the current, 
but inconvenient, practice of translating place 
names. It is no doubt difficult to decide when 
the translated form of a proper noun has become 
so widely used that it would be pedantic not to 
accept it. Nevertheless, it would be generally 
convenient if the number of such place-names 
were restricted as far as possible. Thus, such 
cases as the use of Terre de Grant for Grant 
Land render the index less useful to foreign stu- 
dents, and the adoption of Francois, instead of 
Franz, for a locality named after the Austrian 
Emperor tends to conceal the history of the name. 
Ilo Wie (Ge 
DARWINISM IN THE LIGHT OF MODERN 
RESEARCH. 
Die Abstammungslehre: Zwolf gemeinverstaind- 
liche Vortrige tiber die Dessendenstheorie im 
Licht der neweren Forschung. By O. Abel, 
A. Brauer, and others. Pp. iv+ 489. (Jena: 
Gustay Fischer, 1911.) Price 11 marks. 
HE handsome volume issued by the Society 
for Natural Science in Munich (Minchener 
Verein fiir Naturkunde) is a striking proof of the 
breadth of Darwin’s knowledge and of the many- 
sided character of his researches. The volume 
contains twelve papers relating to subjects dealt 
with by Darwin in establishing his theory of evolu- 
tion; but while Darwin dealt with all of them 
single-handed, each of the contributions to this | 
volume is the work of an expert. The first paper, 
an introduction to our present knowledge of evolu- 
tion, is written by Prof. Richard Hertwig, of 
Munich, who gives a very clear account of the 
work and beliefs of Darwin’s predecessors, 
especially of Cuvier’s position as regard evolution. 
The second and third papers are written by Prof. 
Richard Goldschmidt, of Munich, and relate to 
NO. 2210, VOL. 89] 
| Abstammungsslehre.” 
the origin of species in the light of our present 
knowledge of heredity. In the fourth, by Prof. 
Richard Semon, the inheritance of acquired char- 
acters is discussed; the author thinks these may 
be inherited, but he employs the term inheritance 
in a limited sense. In the fifth, Dr. Paul 
Kammerer, of Vienna, recapitulates the chief 
facts in support of Darwin derived from experi- 
ments in breeding. The position of natural selec- 
tion as a factor in evolution is the subject of the 
sixth paper, by Prof. Franz Doflein, of Munich. 
Prof. August Brauer, in the seventh paper, 
gives the evidence arising from our modern know- 
ledge of the geographical, distribution of animals ; 
while the additional evidence afforded by modern 
paleontology by Dr. Edgard Dacqué, of Munich, 
constitutes the eighth paper. Prof. Abel, cf 
Vienna, writes the ninth paper, and describes the 
various fossil forms which have been discovered 
since Darwin’s time, and their bearing on our 
knowledge of the evolution of the higher verte- 
brates. The bearing of recent discoveries in com- 
parative anatomy on the theory of descent is 
related by Prof. Otto Maas, of Munich (tenth 
paper); while Prof. Karl Giesenhagen writes the 
eleventh, on the evolution of plant forms. 
The last and twelfth paper occupies a third of 
the volume. It is written by Prof. Hermann 
Klaatsch, of Breslau, and is entitled by him “The 
Place of Man in Nature.” Prof. Klaatsch, who 
deals with the descent of man, unlike the other 
contributors to this volume, is not content by a 
mere statement of the progress made since 1871; 
he brings forward a new genealogical tree for man 
and the anthropoid apes. Like Darwin, he regards 
man as derivative of the same stem as the anthro- 
poid apes, but differs in supposing that man has 
retained the characters of the common stock to a 
greater degree than the anthropoids have. 
Those who wish to examine a full statement of 
Prof. Klaatsch’s theory of man’s origin will find 
it here. In Prof. Klaatsch’s opinion, the modern 
population of Europe is formed by the mixture of 
at least two stocks; one of these was evolved in 
common with the orang and entered Europe 
through Asia, while another human stock was 
evolved in common with the gorilla and entered 
Europe from Africa. In this way he accounts for 
the two prevailing types of nose among modern 
The prominent or ‘Grecian’ nose 
he supposes to be derived from the human 
“eorilloid ” stock, while the australoid nose—of 
which he cites Darwin’s nose as an example— 
came into Europe by the Eastern or “orangoid ” 
stock. It is difficult to believe that Prof. Klaatsch 
is really quite serious in his contribution to “Die 
A. K. 
Europeans. 
ae ual 
