December 27, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



899' 



muscular contraction may be explained along 

 similar lines. On the foam theory the muscle 

 is made up of a mass of polygonal vesicles ; if 

 there be chemical changes in the watery con- 

 tents of many of these in one plane the corre- 

 sponding changes in surface tension of the walls 

 or lamellae will produce changes in shape of 

 these polygons, and in the mass a shortening 

 and thickening or muscular contraction ! 



But all motions are not of this nature, since 

 the movements of certain granules seem to be 

 automatic and not, as is often assumed, merely 

 passive. Yet even these granules may in turn 

 serve to change the surface tension of the 

 lamellse, and so ultimately contribute to read- 

 justment throughout the mass. 



In conclusion we may venture to affirm that 

 the foam theory at present falls short of a phys- 

 ical explanation of any of the activities of pro- 

 toplasm, yet as an approximation to what may 

 well prove to be the actual structure of pro- 

 toplasm it cannot be too highly praised. 



E. A. Andrews. 



The Structure of Man. An Index to His Past 

 History. By De. R. Wiedeesheim, Professor 

 in the University of Freiburg in Baden. Trans- 

 lated by H. and M. Bernard. The Translation 

 edited and annotated and a Preface written by 

 G. B. Howes, F. L. S., Professor of Zoology, 

 Royal College of Science, London. With 105 

 Figures in the Text. Macmillan & Co., Lon- 

 don and New York. Price $2.60. 



This is an excellent book and should be in 

 the hands of all students of anatomy. We 

 have had in the writings of Huxley, Vogt, Dar- 

 win and Haekel dissertations on the position of 

 man in relation to the lower animals, but no 

 book has appeared so comprehensive in scope, 

 yet so minute in details, as the one before us. 

 It originally appeared in German in 1887, as an 

 academic treatise under the title, 'Der Bau der 

 Menschen.' The present volume is a transla- 

 tion of the revised and enlarged second edition. 

 The author states that he has prepared it espe- 

 cially for the lay reader, and the editor sug- 

 gests in the preface that it may be of use to the 

 medical student while engaged in the study of 

 anatomy. The distinguished professor of Frei- 

 burg has many admirers in this country, and 



his book with the notable additions by the Eng- 

 lish editor will be made welcome. The follow- 

 ing comments are made in no spirit of unkindly 

 criticism. In the 228 pages there occur 235 

 citations of authors. Many of the statements 

 are without reference, and even when journal 

 or volume is given no uniform plan is pursued, 

 and, often, the year of publication is omitted. 

 The value of this display of learning when the 

 objects of the book are recalled, does not al- 

 ways appear. Prof. Howes has given his 

 numerous citations in bracketed paragraphs. 

 Most of them are from English sources. One 

 would sui.)pose from statements in the preface 

 that Pithecanthropus had been discussed by 

 none but British anatomists. Throughout the 

 book French and Italian writers receive 

 little consideration. There is scant allu- 

 sion to Albrecht, and, so far as we have seen, 

 none to Sutton. No reference is made to 

 the admirable essay of Dr. Frank Baker 

 on the ' Ascent of Man.' Certainly these three 

 writers have contributed in a notable manner 

 to the subject embraced in the general thesis. 

 The value of the writings of other Americans 

 could never be determined by this book. On 

 the homologies of the cusps of the mammalian 

 teeth Rose is followed by Wiedersheim, Forsyth 

 Major by the editor, while Cope, Osborn and 

 Scott shift vaguely across the scene. We note 

 that while the book is designed for medical stu- 

 dents and lay readers the relations of vestigial 

 structures to the initiation of morbid processes 

 is not emphasized. The connection between 

 the morphology of the vermiform appendix and 

 the frequency with which this structure becomes 

 a factor in disease is not mentioned. The rela- 

 tion existing between the apex of the lung in 

 the region of the neck and the restriction of rib- 

 protection at this place is dwelt on, but the next 

 and, to our minds, the inevitable step, namely, 

 to account for tubercular deposits in the lung 

 apex by the same statement of facts is not 

 even alluded to. The structure of man cannot 

 be logically separated from the manner in which 

 diseased action is manifested in that structure. 

 It is curious that from the great wealth of 

 material illustrating atavism in the skull that 

 the author should make nine references to the 

 work by the cousins Sarasin on the Ceylon Ved- 



