Reviews and Book Notices. 383 



known conditions, should leave behind some recognizable traces of their 

 predecessors in the form of fossils. Dr. Patten makes a bid for the arachnid 

 theory of the origin of the vertebrates, and the first two chapters in his 

 book contain elaborate analj^ses shewing that beneath a heavy di.sguise 

 of contour and surface detail, the structural plan of an arachnid and of a 

 primitive vertebrate are after all the same, and that there is a great 

 similarity between various types of adult arthropods and the vertebrates. 

 In a most convincing manner Prof. Patten, by the aid of beautifully 

 drawn diagrams, carries us step by step in support of his theory. Of 

 these diagrams there are several hundred, which have been specially 

 prepared, and they alone form a most important contribution to Zoology. 

 Judging from his list of papers, the author has paid particular attention 

 to the histology of that great marine arachnid, the Lininliis, usually 

 known as the King Crab, and this has served him in good stead in his 

 subsequent researches. Whether we look upon Prof. Patten's volume 

 from the point of view of palaeontolog}', zoolog}^, or evolution, it is a 

 welcome addition to our shelves. 



Life : its Nature, Origin and Maintenance. E. A. Sliafer, LL.D,, etc. 

 I^ondon : Longmans, Green tSL- Co., },(> pp., i/- 



Except that the preliminary matter given at Dundee is omitted, 

 this essay is essentially the presidential address delivered to the British 

 Association in September. Seeing that this address, as well as the presi- 

 dential addresses delivered to all the sections, have for some time been on 

 sale for a shilling, it is diflicult to understand what object there is in 

 selling it separately in this form. We are not quite sure, also, whether 

 anyone is quite justified in publishing the address in this way before 

 the appearance of the annual report of the British Association, unless 

 of course, the council gave the necessary permission. If they did, no 

 reference is made to the fact. In the present edition (which oddly enough 

 is advertised is the only ' authorised ' edition) the type is no larger than 

 in the original address. With regard to Prof. Shafer's views as expressed 

 in the pamphlet, we have already given our opinion in these columns. 



RECENT PERIODICALS. 



Among the recent periodicals we are glad to notice part XII {2s 6d. 

 net) of Major Barrett-Hamilton's History of Britisli Mammals, which is 

 entirely devoted to particulars of the Common or Brown Hare, and the 

 Mountain or Blue Hare. The descriptions, details of distribution, etc., 

 are most carefully prepared, and there are some suitable plates, including 

 one in colours. The Nature Boolt, issued in fortnightly parts (jd. each), 

 by Messrs. Cassell, has reached part 18, which includes well illustrated 

 papers on ' The Flowers of the Hedge Climbers,' ' How to know the 

 Birds,' 'The Grass of the Waste Places,' ' How to know the Reptiles,' 

 ' The Story of a Snowflake,' and ' How to know the Trees.' Each part of 

 this interesting publication contains a good variety of matter, by well- 

 known writers. Part VIII of S. S. Buckman's Yorkshire Type Ammonites 

 (Wesley and Son, 3s. 6d.) completes the first volume of this valuable 

 monograph, in which sixty-seven species of ammonifies are described 

 and illustrated. Of these the majority, it may be claimed, were known to 

 science only by name, and hardly by that. Part VIII contains figures, 

 etc., of Ammonites pnteolus, crassiuscitlosus, anyiuliferus, anguiformis, 

 owenensis, simpsoni, and deuotatus. From Messrs. Hutchinson and Co., we 

 have received part I. of Customs of the World, which is to be completed 

 in about 26 fortnightly parts at jd. net each. The work is a popular 

 account of the customs, rites and ceremonies of men and women of all 

 countries, in connection with birth, courtship, mafriage, religion, super- 

 stition, death and burial. The part before us is remarkably cheap, and 

 contains several extraordinary illustrations from photographs, as well as 

 some coloured plates. When complete The Customs of the World will 

 unquestionably form a most valuable contribution to anthropology. 



1912 Dec. 1. 



