January 24, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



149 



The introduction deals principally with the 

 broader aspects of vertebrate embryology and 

 histology. There then follow accounts of the 

 integument, the skeleton, the ccelom, the mus- 

 cular system, the nervous system, the sense 

 organs, the digestive organs, the respiratory 

 organs, the organs of circulation, the uro- 

 genital system, the fetal envelopes and the 

 adrenal organs. A bibliography of the more 

 accessible books and monographs dealing with 

 the subjects treated, and a list of definitions 

 of systematic names used in the text precede 

 the index. The figures used to illustrate the 

 text are, in large part, original. 



It would probably be impossible for an 

 author in a text-book of this size to condense 

 biological generalizations in a manner wholly 

 satisfactory at all times to other students 

 of the subject. Thus, for instance, in de- 

 scribing the neuron Kingsley states that 

 "the processes are physiologically divisible 

 into afferent and efferent tracts, the body of 

 the cell being the place for the regulation and 

 correlation of the impulses and, apparently, in 

 many cells for the inauguration of new im- 

 pulses." Most neurologists would be inclined 

 to consider the primary function of the cell 

 body to be the regulation of the nutrition of 

 the neuron. Kingsley does not seem to dis- 

 criminate in the text between " dendrites " 

 and " telodendrons." It is quite certain that 

 the corium is not derived wholly from the 

 somatic wall of the myotomes, as is implied 

 in Kingsley's description of the development 

 of the integument. In describing the articu- 

 lations of the endoskeleton Kingsley states 

 that " the bones may be so articulated that 

 one can move on the other (diarthrosis), or 

 there may be no motion possible (synarthro- 

 sis), each with several varieties." These brief 

 descriptions of the two main types of joints 

 are certainly not happily chosen. In de- 

 scribing entochondrostosis the author states 

 that the cartilage becomes broken down in the 

 interior, some of the cells becoming modified 

 into osteoblasts. This is not the generally 

 accepted view of the process at present. The 

 notochord is certainly not of entodermal origin 

 throughout the vertebrates. In describing the 



vertebriE the author would have done well to 

 state what becomes of the costal elements of 

 the lumbar and sacral vertebrae. While the 

 use of the term " anterior " to mean the head- 

 end of the animal and the term " posterior " 

 to mean the tail-end of the animal is satisfac- 

 tory for all vertebrates, including man, it is a 

 mistake to translate " anterior " into " front," 

 and " posterior " into " behind," as may be 

 seen from the following description : " In man 

 it (the sternum) consists of three parts, a 

 manubrium in front, a middle piece, and a 

 xiphoid (ensiform) process behind." The 

 description of the origin of the muscles of the 

 diaphragm in mammals is incorrect and noth- 

 ing is stated about the interesting nature of 

 the innervation of the diaphragm. The ster- 

 nocleidomastoid muscle should not be placed 

 in the same group with the scalene and inter- 

 costal muscles. The author's division of the 

 muscles of the limb into intrinsic and ex- 

 trinsic does not seem to aid in giving a clear 

 picture of the morphology of the limb mus- 

 culature. The Vidian nerve does not repre- 

 sent a distinct sympathetic trunk. The width 

 between the bases of the pillar cells in the 

 organ of Corti increases from the base to the 

 apex of the cochlea instead of decreasing, as 

 described by the author. It is incorrect to 

 describe the duodenum as that part of the 

 alimentary canal which extends from the 

 pyloris to the entrance of the bile duct. The 

 text description of the embryonic origin of 

 the thyroid is unsatisfactory, and the para- 

 thyroid glands are not mentioned. The epi- 

 glottis does not fold back toward the glottis 

 during deglutition. Hemoglobin does not 

 combine with carbon dioxide. The origin of 

 most of the larger blood vessels in the body 

 from embryonic vascular plexuses, which 

 forms so striking a feature of the develop- 

 ment of the circulatory system, is not clearly 

 described by the author, but, on the other 

 hand, the doubtful theory of the development 

 of blood vessels as remnants of the segmenta- 

 tion cavity has a couple of paragraphs devoted 

 to it. 



The proof-reading appears at times to have 

 been somewhat careless. Fig. 22 is upside 



