716 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 673 



suggestions rather than fixed outlines -wliich 

 can be slavishly followed. The purpose of 

 this is to enable the teacher to modify and 

 direct the work in large part according to his 

 own ideas, as many teachers would naturally 

 desire to do. Opinions may differ as to the 

 feasibility of this mode of presentation. More 

 responsibility is placed on the teacher as well 

 as more labor, and the method may be better 

 or worse than the usual course of laboratory 

 outlines, depending on the qualifications of the 

 person giving the course. 



A part of the work is printed in larger type 

 for students who have time for only a limited 

 course in the subject. At the ends of the 

 chapters there is a series of topics and ques- 

 tions for additional investigation in the 

 laboratory, field or library. The book which 

 consists of 481 pages includes sufficient ma- 

 terial to keep an average class busy for two or 

 three years, but the teacher is expected to 

 select from it what he deems suitable for the 

 conditions he has to meet. It is a work which 

 stands in marked contrast to many of the in- 

 fantile treatises which have recently appeared 

 and which religiously abstain from including 

 anything which is liable to tax the gray mat- 

 ter of the student. It is evident that a good 

 deal of thought and effort have gone into its 

 making, and it has consequently a degree of 

 character and individiiality which is rare 

 among the members of its genus. 



The price, $2.50, may unfortunately tend to 

 limit its use in secondary schools, but the 

 general make-up of the book is excellent, and 

 it is well illustrated with 240 figures, many of 

 which are new. S. J. H. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The American Naturalist for October is 

 mainly devoted to the third of a series of 

 "Studies'. of Gastropoda," by A. W. Grabau, 

 this being " On Orthogenetic Variation in 

 Gastropoda." The author notes the general 

 disregard of the immature stages of develop- 

 ment, and considers this a decided mistake. 

 He also points out that the mollusks are per- 

 haps the best organisms for the study of 

 ontogenetic stages between the embryo and 

 the adult, since these stages are permanently 



recorded in the shell; he also considers the 

 gastropods the best for study. J. A. Alien 

 discusses " Mutations and the Geographic Dis- 

 tribution of Nearly Related Species in Plants 

 and Animals," pointing out that the different 

 views held by botanists and zoologists are 

 partly due to too sweeping assertions, partly 

 to misunderstandings and partly to deduc- 

 tions drawn from dissimilar conditions. 

 Under " Notes and Literature " is a detailed 

 account of the various and important ex- 

 hibits made at the meeting of the Seventh 

 International Zoological Congress. 



Bird Lore for September-October has the 

 second, and final, article by F. H. Herrick on 

 " Bird Protection in Italy as it Impresses the 

 Italian." Roughly speaking, protection seems 

 to impress him as eminently undesirable and 

 that the more of his own and his neighbor's 

 birds that can be killed the better. It is this 

 feeling that leads to so much trouble between 

 our Italian immigrants and game wardens. 

 W. W. Cooke has the fifth, final and very brief 

 paper on " The Migration of Thrushes," and 

 there is considerable information regarding 

 " The Starling in America," showing that it 

 has commenced to spread. There are quite a 

 number of communications, some favorable in 

 tone, on the English sparrow. The report of 

 the Audubon Societies records the establish- 

 ment of two more bird reservations in the 

 Gulf of Mexico, and contains encouraging re- 

 ports of those already established. 



The Bulletin of the Charleston Museum for 

 October contains a paper by William G. 

 Mazyck on the " History of the Museum " 

 previous to 1798, showing that it was in exist- 

 ence even prior to 1778. Under Ornitho- 

 logical Notes is recorded the first capture of 

 Bewick's wren, Thryomanes hewicki, on the 

 coast of South Carolina. 



The Musewns Journal of Great Britain for 

 September contains an article on the Malmo 

 Museum which contains many picturesque 

 groups of animals, although there seems to be 

 a tendency to show rather too much of the 

 cruel side of animal life. In the notes it_is 

 stated that the resignation of E. Ray Lan- 

 kester as director of the British Museum has 



i 



