604 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I.,- Xo. 21. 



simp]}- a false statement, since the utmost that 

 could be said is, that unknown molecular 

 changes occur in living organisms. There is 

 no basis for saying that life is ' a peculiar 

 kind of motion,' much less that it is evidently 

 so. 



Tlie pages from 20 to 142 are essentially 

 an extended exposition of the author's theories 

 in regard to cells and protoplasm, which he 

 groups under the general term of ' th-e bio- 

 plasson doctrine.' He maintains that all proto- 

 plasm is a network, that the nucleus is onlj- a 

 part of the network, and that the network of 

 the so-called ' cells ' is reallj^ continuous, the 

 whole bod^^ forming one mesh. The cells are 

 not distinct elements, but onl3' partiallj' differ- 

 entiated centres of the mesh : he drops the 

 term ' cell ' altogether. He very complacently 

 explains that he has revolutionized the gener- 

 alizations of all histologists before him, but 

 admits that he expects recognition onlj^ from 

 the future. "The present generation of his- 

 tologists will very probablj' never realize the 

 harm done by the misnomer 'cell,' etc." 

 (p. 57). 



Unfortunatelj', Heitzmann has entirelj' over- 

 looked the extremelj' obvious reasons for re- 

 jecting his bioplasson doctrine. He mentions 

 (p. 134) the independent cells, which migrate 

 within the body, but merely remarks that their 

 occurrence 'does not alter the general rule.' 

 If he had been acquainted with the work of 

 the last few years bj' Fleming, His, Hatschek, 

 and manj' others, upon the development of 

 tissues, he would have known that a great 

 many of them are derived from just such inde- 

 pendent cells, forming a natural group, for 

 which the brothers Hertwig have proposed the 

 name ' mesenchyma.' The existence of these 

 tissues alone suffices to overthrow the theorj' 

 of a continuous jjrotoplasmatic network as the 

 basis of organic structure. Further, he has 

 overlooked that during segmentation of the 

 ovum a complete separation of the cells is ef- 

 fected : hence it is self-evident, that, even if 

 the network of adjacent cells is found to be 

 continuous in later life, such a disposition is 

 secondarj', and cannot, therefore, possess the 

 fundamental significance our author has as- 

 signed to it. 



As the part, so is the whole, with numer- 

 ous defects from want of judgment or wider 

 knowledge, and blemishes from want of mod- 

 est}'. The largest part of the volume is taken 

 up with accounts of the various tissues and 

 organs and the pathological changes in them. 

 There is little sense of proportion, — eight 

 pages are given to the cornea, but only one- 



third of a page to all the sense organs ; sixtj'- 

 three pages to the teeth, and barely two to the 

 development of nervous tissue. If he is to be 

 judged b}^ those two pages, we must assume 

 the author to be entirelj' unacquainted with 

 the literature of his' subject, and to have nlade 

 no accurate original observations. Indeed, 

 throughout the volume the attention bestowed 

 on recent histological literature is so meagre 

 that it impresses us as an intentional and con- 

 venient neglect, rather than as the outcome of 

 ignorance and oversight. 



The unequal attention given to different 

 topics renders it impossible to regard the vol- 

 ume as a text-book, although it imitates the 

 form of one. It is really a series of special 

 arguments, or, to speak more accurately, of 

 bare assertions, to prove that the bioplasson 

 doctrine is true of certain tissues. This at- 

 tempt would be excellent in a series of scien- 

 tific articles which discussed the doctrine by 

 accurately stating careful and exact observa- 

 tions, and judiciously considering the objec- 

 tions. The author, however, ignores even these 

 elementarj' requirements of logical argument. 

 On the contrary, as is not unusual with persons 

 of narrow views, he is excessivelj^ dogmatic. 

 Of a rigorous scientific demonstration there is 

 only pretence. 



Besides the main text, there are numerous 

 contributions in fine print bj' twentj' other 

 writers, whose articles nearl}' all partake of 

 the singularities of the chief portion of the 

 work. 



Those descriptions which do not touch upon 

 the bioplasson doctrine, but merelj' recite the 

 elements of histology, such as they may be 

 found in numerous text-books, are more accu- 

 rate than the rest. The style of the book is 

 good, clear, and simple. The presentation of 

 the subject-matter is well arranged and natural. 

 Many of the illustrations are excellent, some 

 could hardlj' be improved, and all are good in 

 point of technical execution. A large propor- 

 tion are said to represent the bioplasson net- 

 work in various tissues : of those that are 

 purel}- diagrammatic, it can onlj' be said that 

 thej^ are pictorial theories ; those, however, 

 which are stated to be drawn from the tissues, 

 represent an organization which we cannot 

 admit to be actual, — a number of spherical 

 granules of nearly even size, and at even dis- 

 tances from one another, connected together 

 bv threads of uniform diameter. We believe 

 that figs. 10, 82, 66, 114, 120, and others, 

 showing this pattern of globules and linking 

 threads, have their prototype in the author's 

 imagination, which has distorted the actual 



