662 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 278. 



the posterior cornua of the cord. On p. 94 we 

 find the statement that the fibers of olfactory 

 and optic nerves are specialized for recognition 

 of odors and light. Is not this rather a matter 

 of nerve termination? In treating of the ear 

 we find the statement that "in the vestibular 

 sac and attached to the hair-like nerve termi- 

 nals there are several little sand-like grains of 

 carbonate of lime (otoliths)" and here and else- 

 where the author seems to regard the sensory 

 hairs as the terminations of nerves. On p. 218 

 it is stated that animals lower than hexapods 

 are not Itnown to make sounds intended to be 

 heard. What shall be said of the stridulation 

 of spiders and crabs ? On p. 399 the aeration 

 of the crustacean gill is in part attributed to 

 ciliary action regardless of the fact that cilia 

 are unknown in arthropods. The scaphog- 

 nathite of the decapods is ignored. P. 342, 

 the function of the echinid pedicellarife is stated 

 to be to convey food to the mouth. In the ac- 

 count of the evolution of the ruminant stomach 

 (p. 317) the author is again at fault, for this 

 complicated structure is not derived by simple 

 division of a stomach like that of man, but by 

 the incorporation of a part of the oesophagus 

 into the organ. Again (p. 435), renal organs 

 are stated to occur only in vertebrates, molluscs 

 and arthropods. Where is the nephridial sys- 

 tem of the worms, and have not the contractile 

 vacuoles of the ciliates been shown to void 

 sodium urate? P. 404, the respiration of the 

 star-fish is said to be produced by drawing 

 water into the perivisceral cavity through a 

 multitude of pores but the branchise are ig- 

 nored ; while Echinus is stated to have tufted 

 external gills around the mouth. The worst 

 feature, physiologically, of the book is the 

 recognition of a vital force. 



On the morphological side the errors are far 

 more numerous and we can only call attention 

 to a few. Thus (p. 7) ' all animals must have a 

 stomach"; how about tapeworms? P. 85, 'It 

 is difficult, indeed impossible, to conceive how 

 the vertebrate nervous system could have been 

 evolved out of that of the articulates. ' ' Cannot 

 «xact homologies be shown between the two ? 

 Cannot we compare the distribution of white 

 and gray matter and the origin of the ganglio- 

 nated roots in both? On p. 91 a pedal ganglion 



is denied to the oyster. On p. 165 the optic 

 ganglion is stated to act as a retina in the 

 arthropod eye. On p. 172 the vertebrate lens is 

 stated to be comparable to the invertebrate eye. 

 Amphibians are stated (p. 184) to lack a middle 

 ear ; this is not true of Anura. On p. 186 the 

 mosquito is credited with two pairs of antennae. 

 On p. 247 it is stated that we cannot trace 

 homologies except within the primary branches 

 — vertebrates, articulates, molluscs and radi- 

 ates. What has become of Huxley's compar- 

 isons of ectoderm and entoderm of coelenterates 

 and mammals, to say nothing about such 

 homologies as can be drawn between nervous 

 system, nephridia, ccelom and the like ? Here 

 and there we meet with statements regarding 

 a radiate type of structure and a recognition of 

 close affinities between coelenterates and echin- 

 oderms. 



Again, the vertebral theory of the skull is 

 maintained in several places, although it is 

 stated that there is ' some doubt ' if it be strictly 

 true. Then there is no recognition of the fact 

 that ribs are not homologous throughout the 

 vertebrates. At various places it is stated that 

 serial homology (metamerism) is mostly limited 

 to the skeleton and the nervous system and is 

 denied to the organs of vegetative life. There 

 is no recognition of the fact that metamerism 

 is mesodermal in origin ; and none of meta- 

 merism in nephridia, blood vessels, gonads, 

 etc. In the final section we meet this astound- 

 ing statement (p. 481): "On the east coast of 

 the United States we have two abrupt changes 

 of coast fauna, one at Cape Cod and the other at 

 Cape Hatteras. Scarcely a single species passes 

 from north to south of these points, or vice versa. ' ' 

 The foregoing errors have been selected to 

 emphasize the charge of inaccuracy, but a 

 more serious fault is the lack of a broader 

 grasp of the results of recent morphological and 

 physiological research. This is not easy to 

 illustrate, but is very apparent on reading the 

 pages. J. S. KiNGSLEY. 



Tofts College. 



books received. 



Tlie Norwegian North Polar Expediiion, 1S93-1S96 Sci- 



enfific BesuHs, Edited by Feidtjof Hansen. New 



York, London and Bombay. Longmans, Green & 



Co., 1900. Vol. L Pp. viii-M41, 44 plates. 115.00. 



