REVIEW. 



Biology. General and Medical. By Joseph McParland, M. D., with 160 

 illustrations. Pp. 440. Cloth. Philadelphia and London, W. B. Saun- 

 ders Company, 1910. 



Many teachers of biology should have welcomed the appear- 

 ance of McFarland's book. It presents many subjects to which it 

 has been diflScult to introduce students without requiring them to 

 read a large amount of extremely technical literature. It appears 

 possible to use this book as a text in connection with laboratory 

 work and lectures. If this is done the content of courses in 

 general biology can be very considerably increased, and the 

 student will come in contact with a much wider range of bio- 

 logical facts than is usually attempted in the so-called courses 

 in general biology. The reading of this text, however, has 

 emphasized the belief, which the reviewer has held for many 

 years, namely, that courses in general biology should not be 

 given to elementary students, but should follow one or more 

 college courses in zoology and botany. To introduce students 

 to phenomena of living substance through a course in general 

 biology is fascinating in theory, but discouraging in practice. 

 This text of McFarland, while evidently intended for use by 

 students who have not had extensive scientific training, can 

 scarcely be employed to advantage by those who have not had 

 thorough preliminary courses in zoology and botany. 



The scope of the work is wide, touching in its 18 chapters 

 on such subjects as "Cosmical Relations of Living Matter," 

 "the Origin of Life," "Conformity to Type," "Blood Relation- 

 ship," "Parasitism," "Infection and Immunity," etc. It is sig- 

 nificant of the increasing requirements of medical education, 

 that medical students should be expected to have such a general 

 knowledge of biological facts and theories as is outlined in this 

 book. While there are chapters which will not meet with the 

 full approval of zoologists, still they may well read it carefully 

 for the sake of seeing many things in their own field from a 

 new point of view. The resume of the theory of spontaneous 



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