Seftembeb 4, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



309 



than the system. As The Popular Science 

 Monthly says : " In a great university, such 

 as Harvard, courtesy and consideration do 

 not fail. In the smaller colleges, there is the 

 epirit of the family. So long as the best men 

 are found at our colleges and universities, it 

 may not matter greatly under what system 

 •of academic government they live. But there 

 is real danger that the existing system may 

 prove repulsive to men of the highest intelli- 

 gence and character, and that mediocrity and 

 time-serving may be developed, where we need 

 the most vigorous ability and independence." 

 It was the older American idea that the presi- 

 dent of a college was simply primus inter 

 pares. To-day there is as wide a gulf be- 

 tween him and his faculty as between a super- 

 intendent of city schools and the grade 

 teachers, and however the change may better 

 business management, it does not attract 

 ■strong men to the profession of teaching, nor 

 'does it foster a vigorous intellectual life in 

 the universities. And occasionally a gross 

 and tyrannical abuse of authority reminds 

 the world how far America is behind Ger- 

 many in the freedom of its university life. — 

 Springfield Republican. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 The Labyrinth of Animals. By Albert A. 



Gray. Vol. II. London, J. A. Churchill. 



1908. 



The first volume of Dr. Gray's extensive 

 stereo-photographic studies of the vertebrate 

 labyrinth ha been reviewed in Science. 



The second volume is fully up to the 

 standard of the first volume, and is a store- 

 touse of interesting and valuable information. 

 The author, in a prefatory note to Vol. II., 

 states that he is indebted to the Carnegie 

 Trust for their liberal generosity in assisting 

 tim in the publication of this volume. We 

 think the volume well worthy the support. 



As in the first volume there is a series of 

 etereoscopic photographs, giving magnified 

 views of the labyrinths of the various animals 

 studied. Brief descriptions and summaries 

 accompany these photographs. 



The volume begins with the continuation of 



the study of the rodent labyrinth. The laby- 

 rinth of the capybara is interesting, in that 

 it presents the most extreme example of the 

 sharp-pointed type of cochlea yet described. 



The labyrinth of the inseotivora is next con- 

 sidered. " This organ shows evidence of more 

 ancient characteristics than that of any other 

 order of mammals with the exceptions of the 

 raonotremata, sirenia, cetacea and a few of 

 the polyprotodont marsupials." 



In the labyrinth of the cetacea and sirenia, 

 the cochlea is of a " very primitive type." 

 The appearance of the labyrinth lends little 

 support to the view that the sirenia and 

 cetacea are closely related to the ungulates or 

 to the edentata. The ankylosis of the cervical 

 vertebrae, which is so marked a feature in the 

 anatomy of the cetacea, and the consequent 

 limited movement of the head upon the trunk, 

 are associated with marked modifications in 

 the vestibules and canals. The semicircular 

 canal portion of the labyrinth is very small 

 as compared with the cochlear portion. 



The marsupialian labyrinth is next con- 

 sidered. " While there is no doubt that the 

 marsupials left the main stem of mammalian 

 descent at a much earlier period than most of 

 the orders, yet, so far as the labyrinth is con- 

 cerned, they have developed along parallel 

 lines to such an extent that the organ must 

 be considered almost as far advanced as in 

 some of these orders." 



The only example of the monotreme laby- 

 rinth studied by Dr. Gray is that of the 

 duck-billed platypus. " In appearance it may 

 be said to stand midway between the laby- 

 rinth of the reptiles and that of the eutherian 

 mammals." 



The study of the labyrinth of mammals is 

 concluded by a brief study of the venous sys- 

 tem of the labyrinth. 



The labyrinth of birds is next taken up. 

 The comparative anatomy of the avian laby- 

 rinth has been less studied than that of other 

 divisions of the vertebrates. Thus Gray's 

 contributions to the subject are of special 

 value. The labyrinth of birds bears re- 

 semblances to that of the alligator on the one 

 hand and that of the monotremes on the other. 



