October 16, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



521 



teaches histology as a pure science and for its 

 own sake. It is believed that it will serve as a 

 broad foundation for future studies of morphology 

 and embryology as well as for the medical studies. 



The book admirably fulfills the purpose 

 thus outlined. The field which it covers is 

 greater than that of any other existing work 

 on this subject; every phylum in the animal 

 kingdom is drawn upon for illustrative ma- 

 terial and in a few cases plant cells and 

 tissues are also considered. A glance at the 

 470 excellent figures, most of them original, 

 which illustrate the book shows from what a 

 wide field the material has been drawn and 

 how extensive the researches have been upon 

 which this work is based. 



Such wealth of illustrative material would 

 inevitably lead to confusion were it not for 

 the fact that general principles rather than 

 specific structures are everywhere kept in the 

 foreground. These principles are in the main 

 the general physiological properties common 

 to all organisms. The authors have shown 

 that even histology may be best treated from 

 the standpoint of the living, functioning 

 organism. After seven introductory chapters 

 dealing with protoplasm, the cell, multicel- 

 lular organization viewed from the phylo- 

 genetic and from the ontogenetic standpoints, 

 mitosis and amitosis, epithelium and glands, 

 connecting, supporting and filling tissues, 

 there are taken up in order, tissues for the 

 production of motion, electricity, light and 

 heat; tissues connected with circulation, sen- 

 sation, pigmentation, alimentation, ductless 

 glands, tissues concerned with respiration, gas 

 secretion, excretion, protection, reproduction, 

 accessory reproductive tissues and tissues for 

 the nourishment of the young. This sum- 

 marizes briefly and in a very general way the 

 purpose, method and extent of the work and 

 it must be apparent at once that within the 

 proper limits of such a review as this it is 

 impossible to deal critically with each of these 

 sections of the book. Comment must be 

 limited to the general features of the work 

 rather than to specific details. 



One of the fundamental ideas which are set 

 forth in the first chapter and which runs 

 through the whole book is that the cell can 



produce only substances and that dynamic 

 products, such as heat, light, electricity and 

 motion are the results of the chemical activi-' 

 ties of the substances which the protoplasm 

 has formed by its own " vital " activity. The 

 substances thus formed usually appear as 

 granules and are known respectively as 

 " thermochondria," " photochondria," " elec- 

 trochondria " and " myochondria." Even in 

 the case of other forms of energy which can 

 not be certainly referred to any of the four 

 types named, the authors are apparently in- 

 clined to follow this same idea, and accord- 

 ingly the granules of the nerve cells are called 

 " neurochondria." The treatment accorded 

 these types of energy and their production 

 by animal tissues is particularly striking and 

 valuable. Other histologies deal with the 

 tissues concerned with the production of mo- 

 tion, but no other text-book deals so fully 

 and satisfactorily with the production by ani- 

 mals of heat, light and electricity. In the 

 treatment of practically every topic touched 

 upon in the book the broadening infiuence of 

 the comparative method is shown, and most 

 of the illustrative material figured and de- 

 scribed is new. Indeed, the work as a whole 

 is much more than a text-book, for it contains 

 a large amount of original observation here 

 published for the first time. This applies to 

 every chapter, but particularly to those which 

 deal with the production of light and elec- 

 tricity, and with the sense organs. However, 

 owing to the fact that investigators' names are 

 rarely mentioned it is difficult for one not 

 thoroughly acquainted with the subject to dis- 

 tinguish between the author's researches and 

 those of others. 



In the opinion of the writer the most seri- 

 ous criticism of the work for use as a text- 

 book is that it "falls between two stools"; 

 it can be used advantageously only by ad- 

 vanced students who have had a pretty thor- 

 ough training in zoology, while much of the 

 material described is quite inaccessible to 

 average classes. This makes the book valu- 

 able as a reference work and for use with 

 advanced students, but for this purpose it 

 should be more detailed in character and 

 should include a more extensive bibliography 



