August 4, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



139 



twenty-eighth stage is that o£ the Anthro- 

 poides, most closely approached by Hylobates 

 among recent forms, and then succeeds the 

 Pithecanthropi or Alali, which included forms 

 similar to, but not identical with, the gorilla 

 and chimpanzee and finally, as the thirtieth 

 stage, comes man. 



Without attempting either a general or par- 

 ticular criticism of such a scheme, it may be 

 said of the work that while clearly and in- 

 terestingly written, it will hardly carry con- 

 viction to the mind of the reader. The gaps 

 in the plan are too evident and too lightly 

 passed over; conflicting theories, if mentioned, 

 are treated too summarily; similarities be- 

 tween forms are frequently exaggerated; and, 

 in short, the entire tone of the work is too 

 dogmatic to be convincing. Sentences such 

 as the following are by no means rare : 

 ' In their first stage of development * * * 

 the embryos of all the vertebrates, from the 

 fish to man, are only incidentally or not at all 

 different from each other,' ' Comparative evo- 

 lution leads us clearly and indubitably to the 

 first source of love — the afiinity of two differ- 

 ent erotic cells, the sperm cell and ovum 

 (erotic chemotropism) .' 



On the other hand, one looks in vain for 

 many facts which would have added strength 

 to the general argument, and especially is this 

 so in the chapters dealing, with the phylog- 

 eny of the organs. Much that is highly per- 

 tinent has been omitted from the chapters on 

 the muscular and nervous systems, and it is 

 disappointing to find merely a mention of the 

 recent important researches of Schwalbe and 

 Klaatsch on the Neanderthal and Pithecan- 

 thropus remains. 



But, notwithstanding these imperfections, 

 the book is exceedingly interesting and con- 

 tains a wealth of information on the questions 

 under discussion. One can not help feeling, 

 however, that it would have gained in value 

 and authority if it had been limited to a dis- 

 cussion of the more general question of the 

 descent of man, without attempting to define 

 some thirty ancestral stages. It is especially 

 in connection with the details that the dog- 

 matism offends. 



Finally, it may be remarked that it is un- 

 fortunate that more care has not been taken 

 with the translation and proof-reading, in the 

 latter especially with regard to proper names. 

 Thus one finds Dreisch for Driesch, Moll for 

 Mall, Ealph for Eolph, Dalton for D'Alton 

 and Wiederscheim. ISTumerous terms are em- 

 ployed in the translation which are unfamiliar 

 to English-speaking zoologists, and so much 

 so as to indicate a lack of familiarity with the 

 science on the part of the translator. It is 

 possible to recognize the earthworm in the 

 designation ' rainworm,' but to speak of a 

 Turbellarian as a ' coiled-worm ' can not be 

 said to have the authorization of usage ; ' tint- 

 ing and dissection ' mean staining and section- 

 ing in ordinary parlance; and it is rather 

 amusing to find one of His's reconstructions 

 described as ' invented ' by him. The rabbit 

 is throughout transformed into a hare; 

 Echidna is labeled a ' sea-urchin,' and a plate 

 showing variations in the form of the pinna 

 of the ear has for its legend ' ear muscles ' 

 (cf. Ohrmuscheln), On the whole, however, 

 the translation is readable and set forth in 

 idiomatic English, 



J. P. McM. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Journal of Comparative Neurology and 

 Psychology for July contains two leading ar- 

 ticles: (1) 'The Sense of Hearing in Frogs,' 

 by Robert M. Yerkes. Although in nature 

 frogs seem very insensitive to sounds, yet both 

 field observations and laboratory experiments 

 show that their hearing is good over a wide 

 range of sounds. The sense of hearing appar- 

 ently serves rather as a warning sense which 

 modifies reactions to other simultaneous or 

 succeeding stimuli, than as a control for defi- 

 nite auditory motor reactions. Sounds which 

 never cause a motor reaction are found to 

 reinforce an accompanying visual or tactile 

 reaction and under other conditions to inhibit 

 reaction. (2) ' The Reactions of Ranatra to 

 Light,' by S. J. Holmes. A detailed labora- 

 tory study of the phototactic reactions of the 

 common water scorpion, with a discussion of 

 the general theories suggested by them. 



