January 26, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



147 



English-speaking physiologists. For instance, 

 in speaking of the electrical variation produced 

 when the retina is stimulated by light, the 

 fundamental observations of Holmgren and of 

 Dewar and McKendrick receive scant mention 

 in comparison with the later, though doubtless 

 valuable results of Kiihne. 



Of certain other sins of omission the candid 

 critic has cause to complain. In a work of 

 nearly 1000 large pages one would expect to 

 find a highly special branch of physiology pre- 

 sented in an exhaustive way. Yet certain parts 

 of the subject, and these not the least important, 

 are barely sketched, while hundreds of pages 

 are occupied with extraneous matter, or at least 

 with matter which has no particular claim to 

 be included. Why, for instance, should the 

 structure of muscle and nerve, which is so much 

 better treated in histological or anatomical 

 works, cover over 60 pages, the discussion of 

 the conductivity and excitability of nerve 60 

 more, and the alterations in form of the con- 

 tracting muscle an additional hundred, while 

 the secondary electromotive phenomena of nerve 

 are dismissed in a bare half dozen pages ? 



Again, more than 50 pages are given up to 

 the anatomy and histology of the electrical 

 fishes, almost exactly as much space as is de- 

 voted to their electrical phenomena. 



But although it is not free from faults, the 

 book is a notable contribution to physiology, 

 copious in its information, usually balanced in its 

 judgments, and suggestive in the rare cases in 

 which the author permits himself to speculate. 

 The protest against Boruttau's extravagant hy- 

 pothesis, which so completely identifies the 

 negative variation with a physical katelectro- 

 tonus propagated in the form of a wave, seems 

 to us entirely justified, and the arguments by 

 which the protest is supported particularly co- 

 gent. 



The translation is upon the whole well done, 

 and better, we think, in the second volume 

 than the first. Of course, as in all translations, 

 there are a few cumbrous renderings which 

 might be improved, and as in most, a few 

 places where the meaning of the author is not 

 expressed or is actually perverted. Occasion- 

 ally a plural is inaccurately rendered by a 

 singular. Not infrequently the otherwise com- 



mendable love of terseness on the part of the 

 translator has led to the omission of qualifying 

 words which it would have been better to 

 translate. As a rule, however, the Anglo- 

 Saxon pruning-knife has been advantageously 

 employed to redress the diffuseness of Teu- 

 tonic style. The division of the chapters by 

 secondary headings, scarcely attempted in the 

 original, is a great improvement. But it is to 

 be regretted that the weightiest conclusions, 

 expressed in German in spaced type, should not 

 have been similarly indicated in the translation. 

 In a new edition, which we hope may soon 

 be called for, such errors as the following ought 

 not to remain uncorrected : ' Sewing needle ' 

 for ' Stricknadel ' (p. 37) ; ' become paler in 

 color ' for ' einen blasseren Farbenton anneh- 

 men ' (p. 37) ; ' inequalities ' for ' UnvoUstand- 

 igkeit ' (p. 38) ; ' near the constrictions ' for 

 ' nehgt den Schniirringen ' (p. 42) ; ' the middle 

 part of the nerve rests upon the electrodes ' 

 for ' auf genau gleichen Elektroden ruht die 

 centrale Nervenstrecke ' (p. 62) ; ' itself ' for 

 ' daher ' (p. 69) ; ' the strength of the peripheral 

 stimulus is the most important factor in the diffu- 

 sion of irradiation ' for ' ist die Starke des peri- 

 pheren Reizes von ivesentlichem Einfluss, etc' 

 (p. 70) ; ' the organ of reflexes, the automatic 

 central structure of the brain and spinal cord ' 

 for 'die reflexiibertragenden Mndautomatischen 

 Centralapparate, etc.,' (p. 78); 'built up' for 

 ' geschlossen ' (p. 87) ; ' exactly measurable ' 

 for ' genau abstufbaren ' (p. 89) ; ' similarity ' 

 for ' Verschiedenheit ' (p. 110) (doubtless a slip) ; 

 ' differences of chemical reaction ' for ' Ver- 

 schiedenheit des Chemismus ' (p. Ill) ; ' the ca- 

 pacity of reaction, or alteration ' for ' die Reac- 

 tionsfahigkeit, beziehungsweise Veranderungen 

 derselben ' (p. Ill) ; ' when the action of curara 

 has quite worn off' for ' wenn die voile Wirkung 

 des Curare * * * nachliess ' (p. 112). On page 

 199 we read: "Against the cogency of these 

 experiments there is good evidence to indicate 

 that the electrical taste depends not upon elec- 

 trolysis of the fluids in the mouth, but upon di- 

 rect excitation of the taste-nerves. ' ' This is the 

 direct opposite of the statement in the original. 

 On page 109 curiosity is awakened by the men- 

 tion of induction currents ' ' applied directly to 

 a fresh section on the ventral surface of the 



