January 4, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



29 



has been refuted. He dwells very justly on 

 the correlation of malformation (or perhaps 

 merely variation) and disease. In his conclu- 

 sions at the end of the work there ij much 

 that is interesting. He is severe on Lom- 

 broso. In fact, it is easy enough to demolish 

 the fantastic exaggerations of that school ; but 

 we are not yet convinced that the idea of a 

 criminal type is absurd. 



Dr. Le Double writes as follows concerning 

 variation : " In the actual conditions of our 

 methods of investigation no truly scientific 

 theory of heredity seems to me possible. 

 There is not one of the explanations proposed 

 to us that is not to some extent a matter of 

 discussion." This is true and well said. We 

 incline to think that he is rather too ready to 

 accept the very general view of atavism. If a 

 peculiarity is inherited we have a right to ask 

 for the line of descent, and this line must not 

 diverge from the lines used to explain other 

 peculiarities. In point of fact this has not 

 yet been shown. On the contrary, the threads 

 tend to get snarled very badly. 



We had not meant, however, to go into any 

 discussion. Ours is the pleasanter purpose of 

 calling attention to the thoroughness of the 

 analysis and the wealth of material to be 

 found in this book. None but a trained 

 anatomist has any suspicion of the vast num- 

 ber of variations found in the bones of the 

 face. We cannot even begin to enumerate 

 them. Suffice it to say that the book is indis- 

 pensable to the anatomist working in this de- 

 partment of science. The opening chapter on 

 the nasal bones is a very attractive one. Then 

 comes the chapter on the lachrymal, from 

 which we would extract a table as a very 

 striking illustration of the necessity of large 

 series for statistics. The table shows the 

 cases of absence of this bone seen by different 

 observers : 



Krause, 8 in 100 skulls. 



Macalister, 2 in 150 skulls. 



Bianchi, 5 in 350 skulls. 



Merkel and Kallius, 1 in 1,000 skulls. 



Zabel, 3 in 200 skulls. 



Adachi, 6 in 121 skulls. 



Le Double, 1 in 100 skulls. 



It is to be noted that Adachi's observations 

 were on Japanese. This raises the further 



question of the effect of race on variation. 

 The whole subject is a very fascinating one. 



Thomas Dwight 



Amerikanisches Eochschulwesen. Eindriiclce 



und Betrachtungen. By Dr. W. Bottger, 



Privatdozent at the University of Leipsic. 



Pp. 70. Leipsic, Wilhelm Engelmann. 



1906. 



This little book is a critical comparison of 

 the conditions in American and German uni- 

 versities and schools for higher education, and 

 is written especially with the aim of present- 

 ing to German readers that which is of merit 

 in American institutions. The author's ex- 

 perience was gained by one year's residence 

 in America, during which time he occupied 

 the station of research associate at the Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology. By nature 

 and training a keen observer and student of 

 conditions, he has gained a remarkably thor- 

 ough appreciation of the methods and ideals 

 of American higher education as typified in 

 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 

 and Harvard University. As he himself em- 

 phasizes, he has not immediately embodied 

 his ideas in print, but has first allowed them 

 to mature during several months after his 

 return to his work in his native country. He 

 thus can give a fairer survey of the subject 

 and not one distorted by the accidental being 

 mistaken for the typical, as has been done by 

 some who have essayed to express themselves 

 upon this subject. 



America is, according to Dr. Bottger, the 

 land of experimentation in educational mat- 

 ters; it is only during the last thirty years 

 that the American universities have develojwd 

 to their present importance. Their life is, 

 therefore, younger and thus more energetic. 



The length of time occupied in the prepara- 

 tory schools by the youth of both countries is 

 about equal — an average of twelve years; yet 

 the graduate of the American preparatory 

 school has only the training requisite for en- 

 trance to the highest class of the German 

 ' gymnasium.' The reason for this is, nat- 

 urally, that the American boy is not so severe- 

 ly pressed in his studies, whereby more oppor- 



