742 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 697 



band of fibers (pons Varolii) " (p. 203). 

 " The two lateral lobes of the cerebellum are 

 ■connected by a large commissure, the pons 

 Varolii; this extends round the medulla ob- 

 longata ventrally and is more largely devel- 

 oped the higher we pass in the mammalian 

 series" (p. 229). From this and from the 

 subjoined " diagram of the chief systems of 

 £bers of the human brain " there would be 

 gained the impression that the pontile' fibers 

 all cross from one cerebellar hemisphere to 

 the other, whereas at least an equal number 

 decussate and either end in pontile cinerea or 

 become deflected to a sagittal direction. In 

 further diminishment of the usefulness of this 

 figure to the uninformed, the fibrous connec- 

 tions of the cerebellum are called " crura " in 

 the description but " peduncles " in the text. 

 Granting, however, that histology is subor- 

 dinate in a work of this kind, are macro- 

 scropic features of the part in question more 

 satisfactorily dealt with? In Fig. 171, the 

 dog's brain, the area corresponding with the 

 pons is fairly well defined, but the line shading 

 gives the impression of a longitudinal direc- 

 tion of the fibers. On the preceding page the 

 figure of the rabbit's brain embodies not only 

 a suppressio veri, but a suggestio falsi. There 

 is not the least indication of a pons; on the 

 contrary, the mesal furrow is even more 

 marked than in the pons-less bird on the op- 

 posite page, and at either side is a longitudinal 

 line as if the lateral margin of an " anterior 

 pyramid." This same figure occurs in former 

 German and English editions, and in the 

 author's " The Structure of Man," with no 

 intimation of its defects; it is also reproduced 

 in both -the "Text-book" and the "Manual" 

 of T. J. Parker and Haswell, although correct 

 ^if less artistic — pictures of the rabbit's 

 brain are given in T. J. Parker's " Zootomy " 

 and other elementary treatises. The repeti- 

 tion of such a travesty is susceptible of three 

 explanations, viz., either (a) the author and 



'This is the regular English form (ABglo- 

 paronym) of the Latin pontiUs, the only correct 

 adjective from pons; yet certain medical and 

 scientific writers persist in using pontal, pontial, 

 pontic, pontine and pontinal. 



the adapter are unaware of the existence of 

 the pons in the rabbit, or (b) they have over- 

 looked its omission by the artist, or (c) they 

 are indifferent to the just claims of the stu- 

 dent for reliable information upon a feature 

 that distinguishes the mammals from all other 

 vertebrates. 



The extensive and weU-arranged bibliog- 

 raphy of the previous edition has evidently 

 been augmented and probably embraces the 

 six hundred additional titles of the last Ger- 

 man edition; but there are signs of careless- 

 ness in, e. g., the inclusion in the literature 

 of the brain of mammals (p. 528, fifth from 

 foot) of a title referring exclusively to the 

 amphibian brain. 



An inserted slip disposes of twenty-six 

 errata. As indexes go, perhaps this volume 

 is not conspicuously deficient; yet probably 

 the following are not all the omissions that 

 might be found: appendix (vermiformis), 

 311; bends (flexures) of the brain, 204; cal- 

 losal fissure, 225; central lobe, 227; central 

 sulcus, 228; chromophilous and chromophobic. 

 Fig. 151; chromaffin, 495, 496 and 247; cirri, 

 312; cortex and olfactory cortex, 220; cru- 

 ciate sulcus, 228 ; crura cerebelli, 229 ; diacoele, 

 210; flexures of the brain, 204; hippocampal 

 fissure, 225; insula (central lobe), 227; mantle, 

 200; mesocoele, metaccele and myelocoele, 210; 

 ossa mentalia, 135; paracoele, 210; peduncles 

 of cerebellum, 229; pineal cushion, 201; piri- 

 form lobe, 228; postcaval and precaval, 426; 

 rhinal fissure, 225; telocoele, 210; thorax, form 

 of, 70; Zirbelpolster, Fig. 150; about thirty, 

 far too many for either a text-book or a work 

 of reference. 



Notwithstanding the deficiencies above enu- 

 merated, the present is the best English 

 treatise upon vertebrate anatomy, as the 

 original is the best German, The reviewer 

 sincerely hopes to greet a later faultless edi- 

 tion. 



Burt G. Wilder 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 

 The April number (volume 9, number 2) 

 of the Transactions of the American Mathe- 

 matical Society contains the following papers : 



