112 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 394. 



after the present demoustration, as to the 

 analogy which exists between the Chesapeake 

 Miocene of North America and the Patagonian 

 beds of Ortmann and Hatclier. Tlie number 

 of species which are known from tlie Magella- 

 nian beds is small, and they are not especially 

 characteristic, but, taking the singular una- 

 nimity with which Oligocene strata in the New 

 World and on the Pacific coast of Asia are 

 associated with lignitic deposits, and the fact 

 that such deposits overlie the Magellanian 

 beds, it can hardly be doubted that we have 

 here a series either Oligocene or upper Eo- 

 cene. On the other hand as little doubt re- 

 mains that the Cape Fairweather beds repre- 

 sent in the south the Pliocene of the northern 

 hemisphere. 



After discussing these questions historically 

 and otherwise in the fullest manner, Dr. Ort- 

 mann concludes his memoir with a discussion 

 of the theory of Antarctica, or the existence in 

 geological time of land connections between 

 the different austral countries. This portion 

 of the paper is illustrated by an excellent 

 bathymetric chart of the earth south of the 

 thirtieth parallel of south latitude. The au- 

 thor accepts, in the main, the theory broached 

 by Eiitimeyer in 1867, as modified by Charles 

 Hedley of Sidney, Australia, in 1895, that 

 during the Ifesozoic or older Tertiary time, 

 a strip of land enjoying a mild climate ex- 

 tended across the south polar regions from 

 Tasmania to Tierra del Fuego, approaching 

 Tertiary New Zealand near enough, without 

 joining it, to receive by flight or drift many 

 plants and animals. 



An excellent bibliography closes the test of 

 this very creditable volume, on the publication 

 of which we may congratulate the author and 

 editor. 



Das Eisen aJs das thdtige Prinzip der Enzyme 

 und der lehendigen Suhstanz. By N. 

 Sacharoff. Translated into German by 

 M. Eeohtsamer. Jena, G. Fischer. Pp. 

 83. Two plates. 



This monograph represents the attempt of 

 the author to afford a comprehensive and 

 universal exislanation of the manifold phe- 

 nomena which are ordinarily termed 'vital' re- 



actions. An exposition of the importance of 

 the deductive method in attacking the funda- 

 mental problems of biology forms the intro- 

 duction to the discussion. In distinction from 

 the cellular theory, a chemical theory of life 

 is proposed. The cell is merely the mechan- 

 ism which protects the living substance against 

 the destructive forces of its environment, and 

 secures the possibility of growth and repro- 

 duction; it is not an absolutely indispensable 

 condition for the continuance of vital pro- 

 cesses. Tlie fundamental hypothesis of the 

 author assumes as the cause of such processes 

 a cleavage of the living substance brought 

 about by the oxidation of minimal quantities 

 of iron contained within it in the form of a 

 nuclein — bionuclein. This cleavage is accom- 

 panied by hydrolysis. Complete anaerobiosis 

 thus cannot exist. 



The experimental evidence for the probabil- 

 ity of this hypothesis is derived from a study 

 of the behavior of gelatin towards the vege- 

 table enzyme pjipayotin (papain). The action of 

 enzymes depends upon the oxidation and re- 

 duction of the small quantities of iron-con- 

 taining binuclein of which they are in part 

 composed. Many of the facts ascertained by 

 Spitzer in his extensive investigations on the 

 oxidizing properties of the tissues are recalled. 

 From data of this kind the explanation of a 

 series of general biological phenomena is de- 

 rived. For example, the formation of new 

 molecules of living substance is attributed to 

 a reconstruction and restitution of the remains 

 of old molecules. The nucleus of the cell rep- 

 resents an available supply of the indispen- 

 sable binuclein. The cell proper is an aggre- 

 gate of similar molecules of living substance 

 which occur in uninterrupted rows and are 

 surrounded by a reducing substance. A de- 

 tailed discussion of the various forms in which 

 the hypothesis is applied to the most diverse 

 phenomena, such as karyokinesis, muscular 

 contraction, nervous irritability and conduc- 

 tivity, the action of the special senses and the 

 central nervous system, cannot be entered into 

 here. The monograph is a striking illustra- 

 tion of the translation of a very limited num- 

 ber of experimental observations into terms of 

 universal application. We believe that the 



