November 16, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



761 



sive evolution Is misleading." " Rudimentary 

 organs and institutions resemble the primitive 

 states of these, in so far as they no longer pos- 

 sess certain parts which the primitive stages 

 did not yet possess. None the less profound 

 differences exist between the primitive and the 

 reduced forms." This difference lies largely in 

 the difference of potentiality of the primitive 

 and the degenerate organ to vary in the direc- 

 tion of new uses. ' ' After a certain degree of 

 atrophy, there is no longer the possibility of 

 re-development to resume old or to acquire new 

 functions." 



The Degeneration is in Book III. attributed 

 to ( 1) lack of space ; (2) lack of use ; (3) lack of 

 nutrition, as in the genitalia of neuter bees ; (4) 

 atrophy without apparent cause. If a function- 

 less organ persists it is because neither variation 

 nor selection has intervened. The struggle 

 for existence between the various organs and 

 the struggle for existence between various or- 

 ganisms are in the opinion of these authors ' the 

 principal if not the sole agents in degenera- 

 tion,' while inutility of function, insufficiency 

 of nutriment or resource, and lack of space are 

 occasional causes of degenerative evolution. 



The book is written in a popular and enter- 

 taining style. ^_ ^_ Eigenmann. 



the Ocean of Air. By A. Lawrence 

 KoTCH, S.B., A.M. Romance of Science 

 Series. London, Society for Promoting Chris- 

 tian Knowledge, and New York, E. and J. B. 

 Young. 1900. Small 8vo. Pp. 184. $1.00. 

 The work in kite meteorology carried on 

 during the past six years at Blue Hill Observa- 

 tory under the direction and through the liber- 

 ality of Mr. A. Lawrence Rotoh needs no intro- 

 duction to the readers of Science. Mr. Rotch's 

 pioneer work in scientific kite-flying has re- 

 ceived the stamp of ofiicial approval at the 

 hands of the International Meteorological Con- 

 ference and of the International Aeronautical 

 Committee, and similar investigations have 

 lately been begun at several of the European 

 meteorological observatories. ' Sounding the 

 Ocean of Air ' is the attractive title of a little 

 book, issued in the Romance of Science Series, 

 which comprises sis lectures delivered by the 

 author before the Lowell Institute of Boston, in 



December, 1898. The subjects dealt with in the 

 six chapters are ' The Atmosphere ' ; ' Clouds ' ; 

 'Balloons'; ' Ballons-sondes for Great Alti- 

 tudes ' ; ' Kites, ' and ' Results of Kite-Plights at 

 Blue Hill.' The whole volume presents a 

 clear and systematic account of the history and 

 present status of the exploration of the free 

 air. The last chapter, on the ' Results of 

 the Kite-Flights at Blue Hill,' gives a useful 

 summary, almost too condensed for understand- 

 ing without careful study, of the notable results 

 obtained by Mr. H. H. Clayton, of the Blue 

 Hill Observatory staff, from the records made 

 by the kite meteorograph. This chapter will, 

 therefore, probably have the greatest interest 

 for meteorologists, although the chapter on 

 Clouds, in which the Blue Hill cloud work is 

 given special attention, is hardly less important. ' 

 This little book is to be recommended to all 

 who wish to inform themselves concerning the 

 work that is now being done in ' sounding the 

 ocean of air,' as Mr. Rotch has happily phrased 

 it. The volume emphasizes once again the high 

 scientific quality of the work done by Messrs. 

 Clayton, Fergusson and Sweetland, under Mr. 

 Rotch's direction, at Blue Hill Observatory. 

 The dedication is so appropriate as to deserve 

 quotation here : ' ' This little Book is gratefully 

 dedicated to the late Augustus Lowell, Esq., of 

 Boston, U. S. A., who, as Trustee of the Lowell 

 Institute, enabled Scientific Men of Two Conti- 

 nents to present the Results of their Investiga- 

 tions to the Public." 



R. DeC. Ward. 

 Harvard University. 



Freehand Perspective. By Victor T. Wilson. 



New York and London, Wiley and Sons; 



Chapman & Hall. 1900. 8vo. Pp. xii + 



257. 111., 139. 



This is a work intended for use in a section 

 of the freehand classes of the drawing depart- 

 ments of technical schools and in similarly ap- 

 propriate work. It is seldom that the writer 

 of a book of this class can now expect to bring 

 out anything essentially original in either mat- 

 ter or manner, or treatment generally. In this 

 case, however, original genius has found ex- 

 pression, and we discover in Mr. Wilson's book 

 some entirely new and very valuable matter ; 



