218 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXV. No. 632 



failed. The reason for this anemia is not 

 loss of blood, and equally contrary to 

 known facts are the various hypotheses, 

 based on the length of stay in the intestine, 

 the predisposition of the host and the con- 

 dition of the parasite. The view that it is 

 due to a toxin seems at present least open 

 to criticism. 



The discussion which has been laid before 

 you in this address involves many terms 

 which are rarely used in zoological circles, 

 and many animals which are perhaps 

 equally unfamiliar. To the average zoolo- 

 gist parasitism is a terra incognita, if not 

 a terra evitata! The biological problems it 

 presents were among the very first to be 

 indicated, but have not received their pro- 

 portionate attention in the intervening 

 years. Just now there seems to be awa- 

 kened interest in the subject and the results 

 of investigations in this field are most hope- 

 ful. The subject is one which really over- 

 laps the boundaries of zoology and en- 

 croaches upon the field of physiology and 

 of medicine also. Much fine work has been 

 done on the medical side of the topic, but 

 the best results there can not be reached 

 without generous cooperation from this 

 side also. It is eminently fitting in this 

 place to recall the splendid researches on 

 morbific Protozoa carried out by a zoologist 

 on the faculty of Columbia University. 

 There is urgent need for similar work on 

 other groups that the medical investigator 

 may be furnished with those morpholog- 

 ical, physiological and biological data upon 

 which the successful prosecution of his 

 studies depends. The work of the zoolo- 

 gists, Howard and J. B. Smith, on mos- 

 quitoes made possible the scientific victories 

 of American physicians over disease in 

 Havana and New Orleans. The recogni- 

 tion of hook-worm disease as an important 

 factor in American medicine came through 

 the pioneer work of the zoologist, Stiles. 

 The splendid investigation of Councilman 



and his confreres on smallpox was not com- 

 plete without the work of a zoologist. Cal- 

 kins. The triumphs of modern science are 

 being won by cooperative efforts and these 

 are nowhere more indispensable than in the 

 study of animal life, so peculiarly and 

 closely related is it to the progress of the 

 human race. At no poiat, however, is the 

 contact more intimate than here where the 

 zoologist is called to join with the investi- 

 gator in medicine in achieving the ameliora- 

 tion of man's physical condition and the 

 suppression of disease. 



Heney B. Ward 

 University of Nebeaska 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 The Wing Veins of Insects. By Professor 

 C. W. WooDWORTH. University of Cali- 

 fornia Publications, Technical Bulletins, 

 College of Agriculture, Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station. Entomology, Vol. I., 

 No. 1, pp. 1-152, September, 1906. Con- 

 tributions from the Zoological Laboratory 

 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at 

 Harvard College, under the direction of 

 E. L. Mark. No. 181. 



Probably no animal organs have been so 

 minutely compared externally as have the 

 wing veins of insects. Comparison is so easy, 

 so unhampered by preliminary technique, and 

 the significant characters are so tangible and 

 withal so useful, they are universally em- 

 ployed in defining both major and minor 

 groups. There are probably no animal organs 

 that are dealt with in a specific manner by so 

 many workers in zoology. Therefore, when 

 there appears a pretentious work that assumes 

 to extend the knowledge and adVance the 

 theory of venation it attracts immediate and 

 wide-spread interest. 



Such a work is this recent one by Professor 

 Woodworth. Its purpose is " to develop a 

 theory that will serve for the interpretation 

 of the facts that have been so richly accumu- 

 lated " (p. 3) and "to establish a rational 

 theory of venation" (p. 143). It aims to 

 cover the whole field, discussing, in order, the 



