854 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVIII. No. 989 



title for the period covered — from 1530 to 

 about 1603. The reader is likely to dissent 

 from the inference that the work of Brunfels, 

 Fuchs, Gesner and others constitutes the " new 

 biology " which was more properly the product 

 of the nineteenth century. ISTevertheless, his 

 account of the naturalists of this period is very 

 interesting. In the works of Brunfels and 

 Fuchs we find recognition of the practical 

 utility of affinities for the systematic arrange- 

 ment of plants, as well as sketches from nature 

 published before the appearance of the 

 " Fabriea " of Vesalius. This is notable, for 

 there was little objective treatment of science 

 at this time, and few sketches from nature 

 before those prepared under Vesalius, the 

 drawings of Leonardo da Vinci on anatomy 

 being the most notable exceptions. 



There are some omissions not readily ac- 

 counted for. For illustration, one misses refer- 

 ence to the work and the great influence of 

 Vesalius, Harvey, Spallanzani, and the 

 Hunters. These men lived in the period under 

 consideration and, judged in the light of their 

 influence on the developing science of biology, 

 they were founders in as large a sense as any 

 others mentioned. The work of Vesalius 

 served to open, the field of morphological 

 studies, and that of Harvey to introduce ex- 

 perimental observation into biological science. 

 While Vesalius might possibly be ruled out, on 

 the ground that his observations were not 

 broadly morphological but applied chiefly to 

 the human body, this is not the case of Harvey, 

 who was not only physiologist but comparative 

 anatomist and observer in embryology as well. 

 Harvey is incidentally mentioned in connec- 

 tion with the embryological work of Malpighi, 

 but his influence was great enough to make 

 him worthy of separate treatment. Spallan- 

 zani and John Hunter were naturalists in a 

 broad sense and deserving of representation. 

 Probably Haller should also have some mention. 



There are in the book many evidences of 

 ripe scholarship and extensive learning, with 

 an unusually limited number of mistakes. In 

 the section on " Early Studies in Comparative 

 Anatomy " it is probably an error to designate 

 the Essay on Comparative Anatomy of Alex- 



ander Munro primus as the earliest formal 

 treatment on the subject. The " Zootomia 

 Democritas " of Severinus, published a century 

 earlier (1645), is a more likely competitor for 

 this distinction. 



It is to be regretted that there are no illus- 

 trations in the volume. Portraits of the more 

 notable observers and illustrations selected 

 from their numerous plates would have added 

 greatly to the interest of the book. 



The reviewer has read the volume with inter- 

 est, and while venturing to point out some of 

 its limitations, he is at the same time sensible 

 of its merits. 



Wm. a. Locy 



The Chemistry of Plant and Animal Life. By 



Harry Snyder, B.S. Third Eevised Edition. 



New York, The Macmillan Company. Pp. 



xxii + 388. Price $1.50. 



The scope of this little volume is in some 

 respects even wider, in others considerably 

 narrower, than its title would lead one to ex- 

 pect. Of the two pai-ts into which it is di- 

 vided the first, comprising about two fifths of 

 the text, constitutes a brief introductory 

 course in general chemistry, presenting in ele- 

 mentary fashion the fundamental concepts and 

 laws of the science, and reviewing those ele- 

 ments and simple compounds that from an 

 agricultural standpoint are the most impor- 

 tant. The second deals with certain selected 

 phases of biochemical science, such as the 

 characteristic organic compounds of plants 

 and animals, the chemistry of plant growth, 

 the composition of cereals and coarse fodders, 

 the chemistry of digestion and nutrition, and 

 the rational feeding of animals and men. 

 Nearly every chapter contains, besides its ex- 

 pository paragraphs, a number of appropriate 

 problems and laboratory exercises. The whole 

 " is the outgrowth of instruction in chemistry 

 given in the school of agriculture of the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota." 



The book is, of course, hardly more than a 

 primer, and from a primer much that is in- 

 teresting and even important must be rigidly 

 excluded. On the other hand, the process of 

 elimination may be pushed too far; and the 



