ye 
APRIL 25, 1912] 
NATURE 
189 
To keep the volume a reasonable size the addi- 
tion of this new matter has compelled the author 
to reserve for a second volume the subjects which 
were formerly discussed in the last two chapters, 
namely, life and the classification of the sciences. 
In other respects there is singularly little change, 
the author being evidently convinced that the 
original statement could not be improved upon. 
It is a pity, perhaps, that some of the more 
polemical sections have not been modified so as to 
prevent misunderstanding as to the intention of 
some of the earlier writers who are attacked. 
Prof. Pearson himself ‘speaks of “the acceleration 
of A due to B,” but carefully adds a footnote to 
guard the reader against taking the phrase in its 
obvious meaning. Newton and others were guilty 
of similar anthropomorphism, for which they are 
denounced. They failed to add warning footnotes, 
partly because they had a grand faith in the 
common sense of their readers, partly because they 
were writing a constructive scientific treatise, and 
not a critical grammar of science. These attacks, 
however, add spice to the pages of a book which 
excels in the clearness with which the significance 
of natural law is discussed. 
It should be mentioned in conclusion that 
chapter x., on modern physical ideas, is contri- 
buted by Prof. E. Cunningham. The scope of the 
chapter is sufficiently indicated by the titles of a 
few of the sections, such as: the electromagnetic 
constitution of the atom, electromagnetic mass, 
fluid or space distribution of electricity, and the 
theory of relativity. The expanded second volume 
of this interesting work will be looked forward 
to with great expectations. 
A BIOLOGICAL DICTIONARY. 
Worterbuch der Biologie. By Dr. 
Schmidt. Pp. viii+581. (Leipzig: 
Kroner, 1912.) Price 10 marks. 
RITERS on_ biological subjects have 
always used a rich vocabulary, but with 
the growth of information and knowledge there 
has arisen such a wealth of technical terms and 
of classificatory nomenclature that readers, and 
even writers themselves, are often at a loss, and 
it is difficult to refer an inquirer to any handy 
work containing an adequate glossary of terms 
used in anthropology, botany, and geology. 
Ziegler’s “Zoologisches Wé6rterbuch” supplies 
the want for zoologists, and supplies it well, but 
there is undoubtedly room for such a dictionary 
as this which Dr. Schmidt has written. At a 
rough estimate it contains 10,000 definitions, and 
the labour of compiling it must have been very 
great, for not only are descriptive words explained 
NO. 2217, VOL. 89| 
Heinrich 
Alfred 
| but there are also many generic terms and expres- 
sions that appeal only to the advanced systematist. 
The derivations of the words are not given. 
Use, and use alone, can test the value of this 
dictionary. So far as we have been able to deter- 
mine its accuracy and inclusiveness, the work has 
stood the test very well. As an example of the 
unexpectedly interesting information afforded in 
dealing with arid or forbidding names, we select 
“Lebensdauer.” Under this heading a most in- 
teresting summary is given of the relative longe- 
vity of plants and animals. We are told on the 
authority of Hesse’s work, “Tierbau und Tier- 
leben,” that an earthworm lives ten years, a leech 
twenty or even twenty-seven years, a pond mussel 
twelve years, a (fresh-water) pearl mussel fifty to 
a hundred years. Most of the definitions we have 
examined seem well arranged, though here and 
there a little inaccuracy has crept in. For ex- 
ample, under “body-cavity”” we are told that a 
true coelom is well-developed in limulus, spiders, 
millipedes, and insects, whereas, of course, the 
well-developed cavity in these animals is not a 
true coelom at all. 
The terms .used in classification seem needlessly 
numerous, and are sometimes very unhappily ex- 
pressed. Protozoa, for example, are divided into 
“Cytomorphe”’ and “Cytoidee,”’ a new and 
abominable classification. Certain cases of omis- 
sion have occurred in the course of a few days’ 
use. The term “lipoids,” about which so much is 
heard just at present, might have been included. 
The class of pigments known as lipochromes is 
left out, whilst the melanins are included. But 
these considerations are of small account in com- 
parison with the mass of successful definitions 
which testify to the author’s tireless researches. 
A few illustrations are given, and a geological 
table is added as an appendix. 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
Links with the Past in the Plant World. By 
Proteaceae Seward. Hakwos Pps six-timaa. 
(Cambridge: University Press, 1911.) Price 
Is. net. 
Tue object of this neat little volume is best ex- 
plained in the author’s words. ‘‘I hope,’’ he 
says, ‘‘that I may succeed in attracting some 
of my readers who are already interested in 
living plants to the study of plants of former 
ages.’’ The book is likely to fulfil its purpose. 
Without attempting any serious discussion of 
evolutionary theories, the author brings home 
to the reader the deep interest of a number of 
problems in the history of plants and their ¢cis- 
tribution, 
The introductory chapter the 
always attractive subject of the longevity of 
trees, and explains very clearly how a tree grows 
begins with 
