August 21, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



277 



ence to the interpretations of interglacial 

 stages both in Europe and America is laid 

 aside when discussing the late glacial changes 

 of level. In regard to these the author states 

 that the Americans have carried out a series 

 of researches on the shore lines around their 

 lakes which rival in interest the magnificent 

 results obtained by the Scandinavians. The 

 author refers the uplift to the disappearance 

 of the ice weight. He seems not to have 

 reached the state of uncertainty on the ques- 

 tion of the efl^ect of the relief from ice weight- 

 ing which certain Americans most closely con- 

 nected with this investigation are experi- 

 encing. 



The chapter on the Quaternary mammals is 

 mainly descriptive, though they are listed as 

 representing four classes, those characteristic 

 of arctic tundras, of the steppes, of present- 

 day southern distribution and extinct mam- 

 mals. 



The chapter on Quaternary man brings out 

 the several stages of culture in accordance 

 with the results of European investigations, 

 and seems favorable to the correlation of cer- 

 tain stages of culture with late stages of the 

 glacial epoch. 



Eeank Leverett 



Ann Arboe, Michigan" 



Biologie der Fische. Von Dr. Phil. Oskar 

 Haempel, Privatdozent an der k. k. Hoch- 

 schule fur Bodenkulture in Wien. Mit 55 

 Abbildungen im Text. Stuttgart, Verlag 

 von Ferdinand Enke, 1912. 

 Attractively bound in true German style, 

 this little volume appears as a separate from 

 Dr. M. Hilzheimer's work on the " Biologie 

 der Wirbeltiere." The author disclaims com- 

 pleteness, his object having been to put forth 

 merely a guide or introduction to the biology 

 of fishes. There is more information, how- 

 ever, than he would have one believe; much 

 more, in fact, than can be found in any single 

 American work on the subject. 



The contents are grouped under three head- 

 ings, namely: (1) A general review of the 

 anatomy and physiology, (2) the dependence 

 of fishes upon the chemico-physical conditions 



of habitat, (3) life manifestations of fishes 

 with respect to other organisms. . 



The lateral line whose function is not well 

 understood . even at the present time has been 

 studied and reported upon by at least one 

 prominent American zoologist, but it has been 

 considerably neglected by authors of general 

 works. The adequate manner in which it is 

 treated by the present writer is to be com- 

 mended. 



Literature concerning the food, feeding and 

 digestion in fishes is widely scattered and in 

 many cases unavailable to the student of ani- 

 mal ecology or of fish culture. Barring Dr. 

 Forbes's admirable papers on the food of fishes, 

 it can be said, also, that much of the published 

 data are erroneous or at least that they give 

 but a hazy notion of this important subject. 

 Dr. Haempel here presents a full and most in- 

 teresting account which evidently is the re- 

 sult of careful selection of those facts of prac- 

 tical importance. 



The study of the breeding habits of fishes 

 constitutes a large field of great diversity, one 

 which has been surveyed but casually so far 

 as American forms are concerned. And so, 

 perhaps wisely, the author of the present work 

 has confined his attention to the habits of 

 European fresh-water forms and to the better 

 known among marine fishes. His examples il- 

 lustrating the various types of breeding are 

 well chosen. 



When one learns that the author was a 

 former student of the well-known authority 

 on fish diseases. Dr. Bruno Hofer, and in fact 

 to whom this book is dedicated, it is a little 

 surprising that this phase of fish biology is 

 not treated more fully. The criticism may be 

 favorable, however, in view of the fact that 

 the work is designed merely as a guide. 



It is unfortunate to find lancelets treated 

 in a work on the biology of fishes, for they are 

 not fishes and their inclusion necessitates 

 many exceptions to the general statements. 



The author is a teacher of fish culture as 

 well as an ichthyologist and he has kept prom- 

 inently before the reader the practical appli- 

 cation of ichthyologic data. This is empha- 

 sized particularly in the sections dealing with 



