November 1, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



587 



» 



It appears that Mr. Eicker has not only 

 assisted in the bibliography and citations to 

 diatom literature, but has passed upon the 

 many taxonomic problems involved. The 

 painstaking manner in which this has been 

 done adds greatly to the value of the report. 



The new species, together with a few others, 

 are well figured by some very good micro- 

 photographs. 



George T. Moore 



Leitfaden fiir den hiologischen UnterricM. 



Von K. Kraepelin, Direktor des Natiirhis- 



torischen Museums in Hamburg. Leipzig 



und Berlin, B. G. Teubner. 190Y. 



This little manual forms one of a series 

 devoted to the extension of biological interest 

 and the improvement of teaching in the Ger- 

 man schools. Others of the series are devoted 

 explicitly to the teaching of botany and 

 zoology. Of similar import are still others 

 devoted to nature study, for example, " Natur- 

 studien in Wald und Feld " ; and " Natur- 

 studien in der Sommerfrische." All of which 

 may be taken as indicative of the broadening 

 and liberalizing movements in education the 

 world over. 



This particular book, as its name implies, is 

 devoted to the distinctively biological aspects 

 of nature study, but with reference to the 

 higher schools, as indicated in the full title, 

 " Leitfaden fiir den Biologischen unterricht in 

 den Oberen Klassen der Hoheren Schulen." 



The book comprises something over three 

 hundred pages of well-printed and amply and 

 beautifully illustrated matter. One finds, as 

 the author himself admits, some question as 

 to just where to draw the line of a happy 

 medium between the " Scylla " of too much, 

 and the " Charybdis " of too little ; and to the 

 reviewer it seems as if the former rock had 

 been barely missed. At any rate, for Ameri- 

 can high schools we should regard of doubtful 

 educational value the introduction of the intri- 

 cate problems of prehistoric man and arche- 

 ology. It must be said, however, that these 

 are touched upon in the present book in only 

 a very elementary manner. 



Something of the scope of the book may be 



gathered from the following partial glimpse 

 of the table of contents. 



First Section. The dependence of life on 

 the influence of the surrounding world. Of 

 the factors may be mentioned: (1) The tem- 

 perature limits of plant life, and in a later 

 section the same in reference to animal life. 

 (2) Influence of light on plant life. (3) Sur- 

 rounding media, soil, atmosphere, water, etc. 



A section is devoted to the relations of 

 plants to each other, and also to animals, or 

 what we usually understand as ecology. The 

 author employs this and several other terms in 

 designating phases of these relations, going 

 into what seems to the reviewer unnecessary 

 details for an elementary treatise. 



The second section is devoted to the " struc- 

 ture and vital activities of the organic world." 

 Under this head are presented some of the 

 more profound and difiicult problems of his 

 subject, yet on the whole the treatment is clear 

 and stimulating, though rather difficult for 

 pupils of the age of those concerned. 



The third section deals with man as an 

 object of scientific consideration. Brief refer- 

 ence has already been made to phases of this 

 section. In general it deals with the structure 

 and functions of the human body, problems of 

 nutrition, metabolism, etc. 



On the whole the book is worthy of cordial 

 approval. It is well printed on good paper, 

 and is marred by very few typographical 

 errors. Chas. W. Hargitt 



Syracuse University 



Elements of Physiology. By Theodore 

 Hough and William T. Sedgwick. Boston, 

 Ginn & Co. 



The present book is a reprint of the physiolog- 

 ical portion of our larger work entitled " The 

 Human Mechanism," together with chapter XX., 

 . . . which has been added to meet the require- 

 ments of law in some states with regard to the 

 tesching of physiology. (From the preface.) 



It fell to the lot of the present writer to 

 review the " larger work " referred to above in 

 the issue of Science for April 19 of the cur- 

 rent year. And since the present book is, as 

 stated above, a reprint of the former, it will 



