608 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 174. 



the distinctions to be due to isolation, -without 

 any reference to utility. Suppose a variable 

 type to occupy a valley, A. A few examples 

 wander to valley B and start a colony. Their 

 average is not the same as that of the whole 

 population of the place whence they came ; 

 hence the colony will differ more or less, from 

 the start, from the parent race. If this differ- 

 ence is not harmful it will be perpetuated. 



The proposition that natural selection can 

 have nothing to do with these changes seems to 

 need examination. It is possible, for example, 

 that when birds have got used to eating variety 

 A in valley A they will not so readily observe 

 and attack a different variety in the neighbor- 

 ing valley B. On crossing into B they might 

 certainly be expected to look for and first attack 

 examples similar to those they had before 

 eaten ; hence the new variations would be 

 neglected and get some advantage. Another 

 point is that in a variable species certain indi- 

 viduals will be selected by reason of characters 

 which are, perhaps, not visible externally, 

 ■e. g., the ability to digest a new sort of food. 

 When these individuals are selected out of 

 many, in the home of the species, they will 

 probably be of diverse varieties, and so no 

 special color-strain, for example, "will arise. 

 But let a few examples migrate, and of these 

 only a few survive, it is probable that these 

 survivors will have correlated with their useful 

 characters certain others which are not in them- 

 selves valuable. 



Much more might be said, but these few criti- 

 cisms will serve to indicate the problems dis- 

 cussed in the work ; and, it is hoped, to suggest 

 lines of observation to those who can help to 

 give us knowledge in place of hypotheses. 

 t. d. a. cockeeell. 

 Mesilla Paek, New Mexico, 

 Mnroh 25, 1898. 



tuting dlfierent environments for the snails. The 

 Sandwich Islands are elevated, and it is quite certain 

 that the greatest precipitation of moisture must occur 

 at the higher levels, and on the side of the islands 

 first reached by the prevalent winds. On sloping 

 ground there must also be marked diflerences of sun- 

 light ; and, in short, it may be regarded as certain 

 that the Sandwich Islands valleys do not oSer iden- 

 tical conditions. 



Penikese ; a Reminiscence by One of Its Pupils. 



Albion, N. Y. 1895. Pp. 95. Price, $3.00. 



This is a work dedicated by an unknown 

 author ' To all to whom the memory of Peni- 

 kese and its Master is dear.' We note in the 

 preface that ' the material of which this little 

 volume is composed furnishes the apology which 

 its author would make for its appearance,' and 

 that ' it seems best no longer to withhold its 

 pages from the public' The material does not 

 furnish an apology ; what the public has done 

 to provoke its publication is not stated, and un- 

 suspecting librarians who may be inspired with 

 everything that bears the name of Penikese 

 should hesitate before placing their orders. 



The first chapter, 'The Journey,' is largely 

 devoted to a description of a New England 

 hay field and the antics of a sunbeam in an ob- 

 scure New Bedford hotel. In the second chap- 

 ter we learn how ' two score and ten specialists' 

 met together 'on this desolate island,' how 

 they scrambled for their baggage, and how the 

 author took a nap, and what he dreamt, on the 

 afternoon of his arrival. In chapter five the 

 general details of the laboratory are discussed. 

 The author tells us that there were ' bottles of 

 alcohol, sea water, glycerine and other preserv- 

 ing fluids ;' how there were ' the remains of a 

 skate fish with the brains exposed ' to show 

 ' the five pairs of nerves and their surroundings 

 exactly as they exist in nature ;' how the snails 

 ' lay their eggs, in large numbers, bunched to- 

 gether and sticking to each other;' how 'snails' 

 eggs are opaque and white, being longer than 

 broad.' 



Writing of one of the leading naturalists, the 

 unknown author says : " Sometimes he tells us 

 about that most wonderfully curious appendage 

 of the bivalves or the lamellibranchs, the crys- 

 talline style, and of how it has no attachment to 

 body ; this leads to an investigation, and our 

 discoveries are marvelous." 



Further on we read as follows : " Ciliary mo- 

 tion ten foot square would exert a force equal 

 to ten tons." * * "One species floats on 

 the surface of the ocean when it is calm. * * 

 specimens, specimens, specimens, everywhere. 

 Our professors lecture to us of nothing else ; our 

 time is spent in securing and dissecting them." 

 * * " It is from such sketches of our lectures as 



