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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 660 



Toronto. Finally, William E. Ritter gives the 

 " Significant Eesults of a Decade's Study of 

 the Tunicata." This is a most interesting 

 paper, one of the kind that the student or 

 " all around " naturalist appreciates, giving, 

 as it does, in a concise form and clear lan- 

 guage the results, and the bearing, of the ob- 

 servations made on this gi'oup of animals dur- 

 ing the past ten years. 



The Zoological Society Bulletin for July 

 is an interesting number and records many 

 important facts. First it notes the arrival of 

 a pair of the Sudan African Elephants, 

 Elephas oxyotis, the species with huge ears, 

 and the one that attains the greatest size. 

 The lamented Jumbo was a fine example of 

 this species. " An Important Educational 

 Collection" is contained in the Small Mam- 

 mal House comprising examples of six orders 

 of mammals to which it is hoped to add 

 examples of three other orders (Pinnipedia 

 will hardly rank as more than a Suborder). 

 For teaching the rudiments of the classifica- 

 tion of mammals this collection is most im- 

 portant, the more that it is well labeled, and 

 the labeling at the Zoological Park is of the 

 highest order, as instanced by the labels in 

 the Eeptile House. The ground in the north 

 end of Baird Court has been laid out in a 

 beautiful Italian garden and a new walk laid 

 out through the fine beech woods by the 

 beaver pond. Many species of birds living in 

 the park have nested, including the rare 

 Trumpeter Swan. Eighteen species of our 

 warblers are now to be seen in the bird house, 

 a most unusual number to be in captivity. 



The Journal of Comparative Neurology and 

 Psychology for July includes a paper by C. 

 Judson Herrick on " The Tactile Centers in 

 the Spinal Cord and Brain of the Sea Robin, 

 Prionotus carolinus," giving data hitherto un- 

 published upon which the author relied in part 

 in his analysis of tactile and gustatory con- 

 nections in fishes. The "accessory lobes" of 

 the spinal cord of the gurnards are adapted 

 for short reflexes, chiefly confined to the seg- 

 ment involved and not affecting greatly distant 

 parts of the central nervous system. The 

 second paper is " An Experimental Study of 



an unusual Type of Reaction in a Dog," by 

 G. van T. Hamilton. The animal was trained 

 in a complicated experiment box to determine 

 the limits of complexity in association possible 

 to the dog. James RoUin Slonaker reports 

 on " The Normal Activity of the White Rat at 

 Different Ages," recording by means of a 

 kymograph record made by a revolving cage 

 the total spontaneous activity of the rats from 

 day to day. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE 

 stohr's text-book of histology 



To THE Editor of Science: My edition of 

 Stohr's " Histology," reviewed in Science, 

 July 26, has been the subject of some mis- 

 understanding. The publishers of the previ- 

 ous American editions obtained Professor 

 Stohr's permission to make additions and 

 changes in the book, provided that a preface 

 disclaiming his responsibility for such changes 

 should be inserted. Several text-books written 

 on essentially the same plan were then avail- 

 able for American students, namely Huber's 

 excellent version of Bohm and Davidoff; Mac- 

 Callum's edition of Szymonowicz which pre- 

 sents fully certain American researches; 

 Sehafer's brief but instructive Essentials; 

 Ferguson's Histology illustrated by photo- 

 micrographs ; Bailey's, and others, each with 

 peculiar and desirable features. There was, 

 however, no book which presented histology 

 from a strictly embryological point of view, 

 describing the development of an organ as 

 an introduction to its adult structure. Since 

 this treatment was considered both scientifi- 

 cally and pedagogically practicable, and since 

 its use at the Harvard Medical School was 

 hampered by the lack of a text-book, the 

 editor accepted the ofier of Messrs. P. Blaki- 

 ston's Son & Company to rearrange Professor 

 Stohr's book upon this plan. The editor had 

 no desire to work over again and to illustrate 

 anew the familiar facts of histology, which 

 were so well presented in several available 

 books, notably in that of Professor Stohr. 

 The resulting volume has been used with 

 gratifying success in the elementary course at 

 the Harvard Medical School. There are de- 



