September 20, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



381 



tainly sol, below. Not only is Company A's 

 note more unisonal and definite, but it is firmer, 

 more accented, and it seems to me that more 

 insects join in this note than in the second. 

 Careful observation has convinced me that no 

 insect of Company A or Company B ever joins 

 in the other company's note. The rhythm is 

 usually perfect unless there is a disturbance by 

 a breeze. A sharp gust upsets the whole or- 

 chestra and confusion results, but the measured 

 beat is soon refound. In the instants of confu- 

 sion one can detect the steady see-saw of cer- 

 tain ones, as it were, ' leaders, ' or ' first violin- 

 ists,' who hold the time-measure despite the 

 wind, and who soon draw the lost notes of the 

 others once more into the regular measure or 

 beat. I do not mean to say that by diligent atten- 

 tion one may not at times detect individuals saw- 

 ing out of time, stray fellows that are indifferent 

 or careless, but the vast majority usually even 

 seemingly without a single exception, if there 

 is no wind or rain, thus swing along hour after 

 hour in perfect time. I have counted the beats 

 several times and find the number is always 

 identical, 34 double beats or 68 single ones in 60 

 seconds. The effect of the rhythm upon the 

 mind is not unlike that of the woodsman's cross- 

 cut saw handled by two steady, tireless pairs of 

 hands, although the Katydids give a larger vol- 

 ume of sound and the timbre is harsher. The 

 queries arise : Is Company A composed of males 

 and Company B of females? What function 

 does the orchestration subserve ? Is there any- 

 thing comparable to it among other animals ? 

 Sincerely yours, 



GE0RC4E M. Gould. 

 Highlands, Macon County, N. C. 



SCIENTIFIC LITEBATUBE. 

 A Text-Book of Physiology by M. Foster, M. 

 A., M. D., LL. D., F. E. S. Professor of 

 Physiology in the University of Cambridge 

 and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 

 Revised and abridged from the author's text- 

 book of physiology in five volumes. New 

 York, Macmillan & Co. 1895. 

 We remember the third edition of Dr. Poster's 

 celebrated text-book with gratitude and aflfec- 

 tion. It was different from other books then 

 in common use. This book had style to begin 



with ; and style is a rare quality in such writ- 

 ings. It had an air of being at the center of 

 things. There was a certain glow of enthusiasm 

 in its pages, breaking through at times what 

 seemed the habitual restraint of a scholar 

 who was also a man of the world. Such mo- 

 ments were very welcome. Not less welcome 

 were the brief accounts of celebrated contro- 

 versies. How we venerated the name of Lud- 

 wig ! What high resolves were stirred by the 

 triumphs of Bernard, Heidenhain, Marey and 

 Du Bois-Reymond ! How amazingly clever 

 were Goltz and Gaule to have thought of meas- 

 uring the pressure in the heart ^dth a minimum 

 valve ! These were not merely the easily ex- 

 cited reactions of impressionable youth. Four- 

 teen years have passed since those delightful 

 dkys and have but strengthened our belief that 

 this was a most stimulating and helpful book. 



The first, second and third editions were 

 much alike. They set forth 'that which is 

 fixed and sure, without too much display or 

 too much neglect of that which is uncertain 

 and loose.' They introduced in smaller type 

 discussions on debated points. The fourth edi- 

 tion and its successors differ from the earlier 

 volumes. The discussions on debated points 

 are either left out or much abridged or are 

 transformed by the omission of the references 

 to original sources. In the preface to the fourth 

 edition Dr. Foster explained that his decision to 

 do away with the small print portions of former 

 editions had been largely determined by the 

 fact that this former pupils, now his colleagues 

 at Cambridge, had undertaken to join with him 

 in treating these higher or advanced parts of 

 physiology in a more extended and satisfactory 

 form. The hope that the result of their labors 

 would soon appear led him to omit all refer- 

 ences and to use as little as possible the personal 

 authority of the names of investigators. ' ' The 

 fondness of students for the use of names of per- 

 sons is as marked as the pertinacity with which 

 they use them^wrougly." 



The hope which the author here expressed is 

 fulfilled in the fifth edition, in which Dr. Gas- 

 kell, Mr. Langley and Dr. Lea have given great 

 assistance. The result is a work of about two 

 thousand pages in five volumes. Part I. treats 

 of the blood, the contractile tissues and the vas- 



