634 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 956 



ter devoted to methods of burial — not, bow- 

 ever, giving us such valuable information in 

 this regard as we obtain from Peet. 



The author is concerned in the main with 

 description, there being no less than 74 full- 

 page plates in addition to the 174 figures. 

 These excellent illustrations greatly enhance 

 the value of the volume. We may regret that 

 the author has not brought the problems out 

 more sharply. The more important of his 

 solutions of the problematic are probably 

 these : 



Pithecanthropus erectus represents a type, 

 not necessarily intermediate between man and 

 the monkeys, but one in which the erect pos- 

 ture had been assumed though the head-form 

 of Homo sapiens had not completely evolved — 

 " the seeming difference being due to the dif- 

 ferent standpoints from which the phenomena 

 are contemplated." A hiatus between the 

 paleolithic and neolithic in England must be 

 assumed, the so-called mesolithic forms being 

 incomplete neoliths; it is probably to be ac- 

 counted for on the assumption that paleolithic 

 man was driven out by the cold and the gla- 

 ciers, to take refuge with the cave-men of 

 France with whom he could easily communi- 

 cate over the land now covered by the English 

 Channel. Likewise, paleolithic man of Jersey 

 could so communicate. The dual cultures 

 found in the eastern and western parts of the 

 Po Valley, respectively, are explained on the 

 supposition that " the terramaricoli in their 

 migration southwards took possession of these 

 native villages, and lived in their hut-habita- 

 tions, finding them as comfortable as their 

 own pile-structures. If there was an emigra- 

 tion of terramara folk from Emilia to south 

 Italy, who ultimately became the actual 

 founders of Rome, surely they must have left 

 some traces of their journey behind them. If 

 so, what are these traces? To me the answer 

 is not far to seek: they are scattered along the 

 Adriatic slopes in the numerous hut-villages 

 and cave-dwellings, which are described as 

 containing unquestioned remains of terramara 

 civilization." To this the classical archeol- 

 ogist will retort : If there was such an emigra- 

 tion. 



The chapter describing Structures Analo- 

 gous to Terramare in Other European Coun- 

 tries is most welcome, for we do not have a 

 substitute in English. 



The volume will appeal both to specialists, 

 who will find it valuable for references, illus- 

 trations and descriptive material, and to the 

 lay reader who wishes to have in easy, com- 

 prehensive form the latest results in European 

 prehistoric archeology. 



W. D. Wallis 



Univeesity of Pennsylvania 



The Cotton Plant in Egypt. By W. Law- 

 rence Balls. Macmillan & Co. 1912. 202 

 pages, 1 plate and 71 text figures. 

 The purpose of this book, as announced in 

 the preface, is to abstract " the results of a 

 series of researches made upon cotton plants 

 in Egypt, which investigations, though diverse, 

 were connected by the desire to know all 

 that could be learned about the plant itself." 

 The subject matter covers a wider range than 

 is usual in books concerning cultivated plants. 

 Morphology, physiology and genetics are 

 treated in turn and the bearing upon agricul- 

 tural practise of each phase of the investiga- 

 tions is constantly emphasized. 



An " historical " chapter deals with the per- 

 plexing problem of the origin of the Egyptian 

 type of cotton. Professor Balls champions 

 the view that the existing varieties are " more 

 or less heterogeneous complexes of heterozy- 

 gotes." They are, it would appear, descended 

 from fortuitous crosses of a brown-linted tree 

 cotton of the Peruvian type, long existent in 

 Egypt, with other varieties, among them prob- 

 ably American Sea Island, which was intro- 

 duced there during the first half of the last 

 century. 



Brief accounts are given of the process of 

 fertilization, of the development of the embryo 

 and of the cytology of the fiber. One of the 

 most interesting portions of the work deals 

 with the influence of physical factors, espe- 

 cially temperature, light and soil moisture, 

 upon growth and development. The author 

 distinguishes two periods in the ontogeny of 

 the cotton plant, the first beginning with 



