November 4, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



629 



tention of the pagan names " Friday," " Sat- 

 urday," " Sunday." If, however, names of the 

 week-days were abolished and they were 

 called, as by the Friends and the primitive 

 Christians, as well as by the ancient Hebrews, 

 first day, second day, etc., up to seventh day, 

 perhaps Jew, Christian and Mohammedan 

 might be induced to unite on the new Sev- 

 enth-day as a universal Sabbath. 



S. Sous Cohen 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 haeckel's evolution of man 



Since the publication in 1883 of an English 

 translation of the third edition of Haeckel's 

 " Evolution of Man," there has been no Eng- 

 lish republication of a later edition until now. 

 The third edition was a revision, in 1876, of 

 the first; the second was only a reprinting of 

 the unchanged original. Since 1876 some 

 things have been discovered about the evolu- 

 tion of man, and many things have been said 

 about Haeckel's conception and treatment of 

 the subject. In addition, two more German 

 editions of Haeckel's book, the fourth and 

 fifth, have been published. Of these the fifth 

 is a very thorough revision, involving some 

 enlargement and bringing the matter of the 

 book into line with present-day knowledge. 



Perhaps this last sentence is not a very 

 happy one. Haeckel's particular evolutionary 

 interpretation of present-day knowledge of 

 human structure, physiology and develop- 

 ment may not be held by all biologists to be 

 a true bringing of this knowledge into line. 

 " Der Haeckelismus in der Zoologie " is a sub- 

 ject that will not down wherever biologists 

 come together. And its discussion usually 

 leads to a going apart. 



Biologists are likely to be of two minds 

 concerning the advisability of putting Haeck- 

 el's " Evolution of Man " into the hands of 

 the lay reader as a guide and counselor on 

 this most important of evolution subjects. 

 Haeckel is such a proselytizer, such a scoffer 

 and fighter of those who differ with him, 

 that plain, unadorned statement of facts and 

 description of things as they are can not be 

 looked for in his books. Or, if looked for, can 



not be found. But this very eagerness to con- 

 vince; this hoisting of a thesis, this fight for 

 Haeckelian phylogeny and Haeckelian mon- 

 ism, all make for interest and life in his writ- 

 ings. 



The present new English' translation of the 

 fifth German edition of " The Evolution of 

 Man " is by Joseph McCabe, who does it well. 

 He is the same writer who translated into 

 English those two very successful, popular 

 books of Haeckel, "The Eiddle of the Uni- 

 verse " and " The Wonders of Life." These 

 two little books have had such an extraordi- 

 nary circulation (in most of the languages of 

 the civilized earth) that " The Evolution of 

 Man," much larger though it is — it is in two 

 illustrated volumes of about 350 pages each 

 — and more detailed and technical, will nev- 

 ertheless undoiibtedly be welcomed by a con- 

 siderable public. It will certainly give this 

 public a much better opportunity than do the 

 smaller books to judge for itself of the sound- 

 ness of the conclusions of biology touching 

 the evolution of man. For despite possible 

 criticism of details, and the dogmatism of the 

 whole, it is a book of facts; a compendium of 

 description of the course of human ontogeny 

 and mammalian phylogeny, and of the evo- 

 lution of animal structure and functions. It 

 is provided with index and glossary, is gen- 

 erously illustrated, and admirably printed 

 and bound. 



V. L. K. 



Stanfokd Univebsity, Cal. 



Catalogue of the Hemiptera (Heteroptera), 

 with biological and anatomical references, 

 lists of food plants and parasites, etc. 

 Prefaced by a discussion on Nomenclature 

 and an analytical table of families. By G. 

 W. KiRKALDY. Vol. 1, Cimicidffi. Berlin, 

 published by Felix L. Dames. 1909. 

 While primarily a catalogue, this work is 

 something more in that it includes a discus- 

 sion of the rules of nomenclature and their 

 interpretation as applied to the adoption of 



» Haeckel, E., " The Evolution of Man," trans- 

 lated by Joseph JlcCabe, 2 vols., illustrated, 1910, 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 



