62 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 39a. 



The index is unusually complete, which 

 greatly aids the use of the volume. 



The work contains but little that will inter- 

 est the farmer, nor can it be expected that any 

 person could prepare such a work, on account 

 of the necessary technicalities of the subject, 

 but it is just the thing to fall into the hands 

 of the botanist, the professor of agriculture 

 and students pursuing an agricultural course. 

 W. J. Beal. 



Agricultueal College, Mich. 



Elementary Course of Practical Zoology. By 



the late T. Jeffrey Parker and W. N". 



Parker. London, MacmiUan & Co. 1900. 



Pp. 608 ; 156 illustrations. 



Although this book was published abroad 

 about eighteen months ago, it is practically 

 recent in this country, having been introduced 

 by the New York publishers during the present 

 academic year. It is not yet widely known 

 and has not received from American teachers 

 and students of zoology the attention which it 

 deserves. 



Almost twenty-five years ago Huxley wrote 

 in the preface to his now classical ' The Cray- 

 fish as an Introduction to the Study of Zool- 

 ogy' these words: 'I have desired to show how 

 the careful study of one of the commonest 

 and most insignificant of animals leads us, 

 step by step, from everyday knowledge to the 

 widest generalizations and the most difficult 

 problems of zoology ; and, indeed, of biological 

 science in general.' Every zoologist knows 

 how well Huxley succeeded in introducing the 

 readers of 'The Crayfish' to the great prin- 

 ciples and methods of the science. Unfor- 

 tunately, the work was better adapted for 

 reading than for the modern laboratory method 

 of teaching, and hence this masterpiece among 

 introductory books on zoology has become a 

 reference work. But its central idea has made 

 a deep impression on the teaching of zoology, 

 and it is therefore with pleasure that we wel- 

 come a book in which the pupils of the master 

 of zoological teaching have given his sugges- 

 tion a new and more complete development in 

 adaptation to the laboratory method. In the 

 * Practical Zoology ' by the Parker brothers 

 we now have in the form of a handbook for stu- 



dents an introduction to zoology based upon 

 HiLsley's idea of a careful study of a common 

 animal considered from the standpoint of the 

 several phases of zoology. But the frog and 

 not the crayfish is the chosen type. 



One might infer from the title that the book 

 is exclusively a laboratory manual ; but, on the 

 contrary, there are extensive descriptions of 

 the types to be studied in the laboratory and 

 good presentation of zoological principles, so 

 that the book is really a text-book and labora- 

 tory manual combined. 



In Part I., consisting of 228 pages, the frog 

 is thoroughly treated with regard to anatomy, 

 histology, physiology, embryology, classifica- 

 tion and ecology — the whole forming a splen- 

 did introduction to fundamental zoological 

 principles and methods of study. 



Following the study of the frog as an intro- 

 duction to the study of zoology. Part II. deals 

 with Amosha, Hcematococcus, Euglena, Para- 

 mecium and its allies. Hydra and hydroids 

 earthworm, crayfish, mussel, Am,phioxus, dog- 

 fish and rabbit. The book closes with some 

 general points in cytology and embryology 

 which have been incidentally referred to in 

 earlier parts of the work. 



Most of the descriptive chapters in Part II. 

 are essentially reprints from T. J. Parker's 

 well-known ' Elementary Biology,' even the 

 illustrations of the book being reproduced with 

 additional ones from Parker and Haswell's 

 ' Zoology.' But, although the material is 

 familiar, the setting is decidedly new; and 

 these latter chapters supplement the intro- 

 ductory study of the frog so as to form a well- 

 rounded course in general zoology. 



Excellent practical directions for obtaining, 

 preparing and studying zoological materials 

 form appendices to all the chapters, and these 

 are so arranged that the laboratory study pro- 

 ceeds hand in hand with the reading of the 

 descriptions. Those teachers of the American 

 school who have been influenced by the labora- 

 tory methods of both Agassiz and Huxley will 

 criticise these directions for practical study, in 

 that the work of the student is practically 

 limited to mere verification. However, the 

 laboratory teacher who wishes to stimulate the 

 spirit of investigation will find no difficulty in 



